Jeff Maurer

Executive Director of the Defense Innovation Networking Group (D!NG), a Midwest nonprofit focused on strengthening defense-sector innovation, collaboration, workforce development, and Department of Defense connectivity across Indiana and the broader region.

Democracy Must Deliver Material Gains to Resist Authoritarian Appeal

Sally Kohn and Jeff Maurer do not make the case for a formal wealth limit on politicians in this TED “Idea Knock Down” exchange. Instead, Kohn argues that democracy is losing ground because it is failing to deliver material gains for ordinary people, while Maurer says the deeper problem is a political class and party system too detached from the public it claims to represent. Both return to the same underlying concern: money’s grip on politics is weakening democracy’s claim to work for everyone.

TEDJun 30, 20266 min read