David Sirota: Populism comes on strong as elite politicians falter

[OhioChick]

(edited for copyright purposes-proud patriot Moderator Democratic Underground)

Friday, April 24, 2009 05:00 am

In 2006, journalist Christopher Hayes wrote a little-noticed article for In These Times magazine about a proposal in Oregon to crack down on predatory lending. The initiative had become so popular that conservative legislators supported it fearing that if it were put on the state's ballot, the resulting gusher of grassroots support would not only ratify the measure, but depose the bank-allied Republican Party, too.

Hayes' piece was titled "Economic Populism Proves Popular," the headline a sarcastic middle finger flashed at a political and media Establishment that portrays policies "supporting the rights and power of the people" - i.e., the dictionary definition of "populism" - as somehow anathema to the people.

That depiction, of course, continues today. But now, populism isn't just popular in America; it is becoming the dominant paradigm, and that has the Establishment frightened.

For years, the country watched its populist desire for health care, tax, trade and financial reform run into the reality of elite politicians handing out trillions of dollars worth of corporate welfare and bank bailouts as the economy collapsed. Not surprisingly, a new Rasmussen poll on attitudes toward government and corporations shows 75 percent of the country "can be classified on the populist or Mainstream side of the divide" while just 14 percent "side with the political class."

As if to confirm the chasm, this "political class" - consultants, politicians, lobbyists and commentators - has been denigrating populism as too overwrought to be taken seriously. Listen to a typical pundit defending AIG's bonuses or criticizing demands for a new trade policy, and you will inevitably hear the word "populist" accompanied by the word "rage" and/or "dangerous," followed by tributes to the status quo.

This elite propaganda, says Georgetown University's Michael Kazin, dismissively implies "that anger from ordinary people is emotional, coming from people who don't understand how the economy works and are just lashing out at their social betters."


http://www.sunjournal.com/story/314076-3/Columnist/Populism_comes_on_strong_as_elite_politicians_falter/

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

1. The Establishment is worried, not frightened yet.

But now, populism isn't just popular in America; it is becoming the dominant paradigm, and that has the Establishment frightened.


Plenty of arrows in the quiver yet.

[DCKit]

8. So true. They need to be made afraid - and to stay afraid - of U.S..

Until the politicians understand that they work for "Teh Peoples" and not the machine owned by the corporations or other interests, they will continue to work against us.

It's time we expect our government to behave more according to the ideals we were taught in civics and social studies than the Roman empire at it's most corrupt.

[chill_wind]

2. Sirota. No BS. K & R.

eom

[angstlessk]

3. that felt good...like another DU'er said...'off to the greatest page' for you!

[lumberjack_jeff]

4. Yes. We get on the wrong side of this at our peril. n/t

[Beam Me Up]

5. We need to resist both mollification and astroturfing.

Many American's want real, significant change in this country. Somehow we need to increase our awareness and the awareness of our fellow citizens about what this actually entails. It isn't going to be enough to simply get Democrats elected, for example, if we leave in place structures of power and influence which corrupt, control or limit them. The problem is getting those elected from either party to "do the right thing" and begin systematically removing the current imbalances in the power structure. I'm sure many here can list specific examples of what needs to be done from reinstituting the fairness doctrine or an equivalent to election finance reform, not to mention insuring all votes are counted as cast. We also need to expose any attempts to adopt populist strategies and turn them against the population.

Unfortunately, the problem goes deeper than the obvious. In our political analysis we need to include an awareness of "deep state" activities and interests. Without this our "map" of the current political terrain is sorely lacking and will inevitably result in failure or worse. What is worse than "failure"? The mistaken belief that you have succeeded in achieving intended aims when, in fact, the very act of "achieving" them brings about the exact opposite of what was intended. An example would be the bipartisan "Help America Vote Act" put in place after the 2000 election debacle. Yeah, it "helped" us vote, alright. :eyes:

[cascadiance]

6. Seeing the top example, I'm glad once more to have moved to Oregon!...

... where populism is starting to thrive, amidst our very high rates of unemployment here (2nd to Michigan).

Also glad I moved away from the swine flu area too in San Diego...

This article hits it on the head. I think the main thing now is that collectively the "populist class" needs to channel its anger into group efforts that are coordinated to popwerfully engage these elite forces instead of just spouting off on what they are mad about or are afraid of that the teabagging parties were showing us. The elites still think they can keep us at bay with disinformation through the corporate media, and keeping us busy and unemployed so that we don't have the energy/resources to find ways to work together to bring down their self-serving agendas to replace them with people-serving agendas.

Just every one step back for a moment when confronted with "big" news about things that aren't really what the elites care about, but are more emotional in nature that are designed to get us riled up in different ways, separate us, and distract us.

Look at some of the Republicans that are just as PO'd as we are now. Don't let others fuel us growing further apart. With some lost souls on their side, things are hopeless. But there are a whole segment of them that need guidance through this distractomedia desert to find people that really care about their well-being in terms of issues that 80-90% of us all have a common shared concern and vulnerability and aren't just using them for other purposes.

Now granted some of them may have very deep seated differences with us on things like women's choice, GLBT rights, and the like. Don't try to say we'll help them there. Don't be overly confrontational. Just say that those are issues that if we can put aside for now, we can talk about them and hash out our differences later in a lot less corrupt and hopefully more stable and civilized environment, where we can have meaningful rules, etc. that both sides can live with. Right now, our parties just fuel each others' hates and fears on these issues, just to promote division and activism for each other's power structure to control Washington, and don't give a rat's ass about doing anything to actually have some constructive solutions for them.

I don't mean to say we should throw away our feelings or stances on these issues. But we have a deep cancer to weed out of our government, that needs to take priority so that hopefully once its gone, it will be a lot easier to do meaningful changes on other issues that face us later.

[burning rain]

7. Shows why Democrats need to get back ahead of the curve.....

or at least stop lagging so damn far behind it. Americans are and have long been in a dark and angry mood over being screwed economically. At the same time, though, Americans have largely lost the instincts of how to work collectively, notably through unions and mass politics, for great ends. Many have a sense of what they want but because of a deadening culture of isolated individualism don't quite know how to get it. The tea parties are particular loci of ill-focused rage, but Democrats need at least to heed the alienation they embody and address Americans' grievances in a progressive way: more unionism, universal healthcare, more intervention in business to secure benefits and well-being for workers, more social protections. It is past time for Democrats to stop giving so much credence to laissez-faire ideology and their business supporters and get up to speed on social democracy. That is the only effective, truly Democratic way to heal America's soul.