populism? Remember that populism can be either left- or right-wing (or maybe even middle of the bird). John Weeks accurately defines "populism" as a political philosophy that "treats society as divided between a small, wealthy and powerful elite, and the vast majority of working people." Who the "working people" are is a matter of contention. The original US Populist Party attracted the small farmers -- and small business-owners. This "mass" opposed the "elite." You can see echoes of that in the Teabagger movement, where "we the people" opposed those snobby east-coast socialist elitists, yelling "don't tread on me!" Some of the early Populist Party leaders actually went from left to right: for example, Tom Watson, a Populist leader from Georgia, initially championed poor farmers and the working class. Later he supported the Klan.
Robert La Follette, on the other hand, was a "progressive," whatever that means (Teddy Roosevelt?). Maybe the solution is to merge these two: I used to get a free newspaper called "the Progressive Populist." This may be controversial ( ;-)), but shouldn't we replace "mass vs. elite" thinking with "class vs. class"? > http://jweeks.org/22%20CC%20Populism.html > > In my last comment I recalled the career of the great American progressive > Robert La Follette. La Follette and the Progressive Party of 1924 bring to > mind political populism. The term “populist” is frequently used by the > defenders of the status quo to disparage progressives and their causes. A > bit of research suggests that the negative use in Europe copies the emerging > practice in the United States. > To take recent examples, a writer for the Bloomberg on-line news > described President Obama’s State of the Union address as “newfound > populism” that was “mere political posturing”. During the worst of the > banking collapse, the never-out-reactionaried Economist bemoaned a “populist > backlash” that was threatening to overwhelm sensible discussion about the > long-suffering banks. The use of “populist” as a term of insult is not > limited to the right of center. Moving along the left wing, it is used with > equal intent to insult, frequently in the context of anti-immigration and > crime. Recently in The Guardian, Polly Toynbee refereed to Tory "populism" > on prisons policy (not as a compliment, I suspect). > I strongly urge that progressives stop using “populist” and > “populism” as pejorative terms. The negative connotations that the words > evoke reinforce the reactionary discourse of capital and its surrogates. It > fosters the impression that the political views of the masses of the > population are volatile, potentially dangerous and more easily manipulated > that those of the better educated and more sophisticated. This > specification of populism is historically incorrect and analytically > superficial. > The political philosophy of Populism treats society as divided > between a small, wealthy and powerful elite, and the vast majority of > working people. Its political agenda seeks fundamental change to redress > the imbalance in power between the two. To quote from the Cambridge English > Dictionary, populism supports “political ideas and activities that are > intended to represent ordinary people's needs and wishes”. The CED has it > right and critics have it wrong. > When I was at the University of Texas, there was an economics > professor, Robert H. Montgomery, who had been called before the state > legislature in 1936. Doctor Bob (as he was universally known) was asked if > he was a member of any subversive organizations. His answer was the essence > of Texas populism, “Yes, Senator, I am a proud member of two: the Methodist > church that tells people they can speak directly to god without a priest, > and the Democratic Party that says people can rule themselves without kings > and queens.” > > > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l > > -- Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
