My redder than red state Gov and legislators want us in Tennessee to believe that "school choice" is being demanded by the majority. They want charter schools funded by tax payers, instead of creating strong Public Schools. District after District has voted against doing this. But, it's still deemed "very popular"😵💫😖
There are many definitions of populism, but yours aligns with my own feeling about it: a claim that X represents "the people" as against "the elites" even if there are more "elites" in favor of the policies being considered than there are "people." It's an us vs them attitude with the added conviction that "them" are always wrong. Combined with the stressing of fear of the Other which it is perfectly legitimate (even patriotic) to hate, it is deadly to the idea that We the People means everyone in the nation.
Sometimes The Establishment does in fact ignore the needs of the people as a whole--the Gilded Age comes to mind. So sometimes it has to be resisted. But what populism adds is a narrow definition of what the needs of the people are, particularly when led by a demagogue who is actually more interested in personal power than the needs of anyone but himself, but who trumpets (pun intended) himself as the sole definer of what Real Americans (in the case of US populism) really are. It is an instrument dependent on divisiveness, and it is where we are now.
It's a very unfortunate word, and since it's only ever used BY the left to describe the kinds of movements we're talking about, I would suggest NOT using it anymore. It's far too sophisticated a term and concept for right wingers to parse, which is why you never hear the RW punditry use it. It's also too easy to misrepresent.IOW INTENTIONALLY misrepresentation of what it implies.It has the same problem as 'liberal'...too many fuzzy definitions that include 'liberal democrat' and NEOliberal...absolute opposites...And why I chose 'progressive' to define my politics. there's no ambiguity there
My redder than red state Gov and legislators want us in Tennessee to believe that "school choice" is being demanded by the majority. They want charter schools funded by tax payers, instead of creating strong Public Schools. District after District has voted against doing this. But, it's still deemed "very popular"😵💫😖
If populism were really about majority support, it'd be called democracy
There are many definitions of populism, but yours aligns with my own feeling about it: a claim that X represents "the people" as against "the elites" even if there are more "elites" in favor of the policies being considered than there are "people." It's an us vs them attitude with the added conviction that "them" are always wrong. Combined with the stressing of fear of the Other which it is perfectly legitimate (even patriotic) to hate, it is deadly to the idea that We the People means everyone in the nation.
Sometimes The Establishment does in fact ignore the needs of the people as a whole--the Gilded Age comes to mind. So sometimes it has to be resisted. But what populism adds is a narrow definition of what the needs of the people are, particularly when led by a demagogue who is actually more interested in personal power than the needs of anyone but himself, but who trumpets (pun intended) himself as the sole definer of what Real Americans (in the case of US populism) really are. It is an instrument dependent on divisiveness, and it is where we are now.
For Trump, elections are only legitimate if he wins.
It's a very unfortunate word, and since it's only ever used BY the left to describe the kinds of movements we're talking about, I would suggest NOT using it anymore. It's far too sophisticated a term and concept for right wingers to parse, which is why you never hear the RW punditry use it. It's also too easy to misrepresent.IOW INTENTIONALLY misrepresentation of what it implies.It has the same problem as 'liberal'...too many fuzzy definitions that include 'liberal democrat' and NEOliberal...absolute opposites...And why I chose 'progressive' to define my politics. there's no ambiguity there