GDAEman: Populist

Showing posts with label Populist. Show all posts

November 13, 2010

An Invitation

My next GDAE Podcast episode, Number 37, starts as follows:

On the previous episode of GDAE Podcast (36) I re-visited my original motivation for people on the political left to reach out to principled people on the political right... a concern that extreme right wing demagogues are stirring up potential violence among uninformed people who are suffering real economic hard times. My "original" motivation was to promote relationships between genuine conservatives and progressives that could either prevent right-wing populism from growing ugly or at least be a mitigating force, a buffer, if society devolves further into darkness as some economists predict is a real possibility in the coming years.

My original motivation grew in early 2010 culminating in my March 31, 2010 Episode 29, which has become the first in a series. In less than 30-minutes, before the audio program shifts to some unusual music, I initiated an exploration that has held my attention for the past eight months and promises to maintain its hold on me for a while.

We could see the dot-com bubble-burst coming. We saw the Iraq war and security state coming after 9/11. We saw the housing and financial economic bubble-bursts coming. Now we can see the potential for the predictably destructive outcomes of right-wing demagoguery coming. This is my small attempt to do something about it, if only to raise awareness. You are invited to join me by listening to the initial Episode 29 and seeing where it leads.

October 1, 2010

GDAE Podcast - Episode 34

September 30, 201o Posting Date

Left & Right Common Goals - Part V

Conversation with Vince Tola: Perspectives on the potential of principled people on the left and right to join forces and reassert the power of the people over our democratic institutions. Vince is a public school teacher and Maryland Green Party organizer.

Play Episode 34 from this page:

Click to Download Episode 34.

Listen to Part IV in the series, Episode 33:

Listen to Part III in the series, Episode 32:

Listen to Part II in the series, Episode 31:

Listen to Part I in the series, Episode 30, (20-minute abridged version):

July 25, 2010

GDAE Podcast Episode 32

Common Interests on the Left & Right - Part III

Left & Right Populists: The American Populist movement of the 1800s with Jim Hightower (Bill Moyer's Journal).
Left & Right United: The Tenth Amendment with Michael Boldin (Mother Jones Magazine).
Green Economy: Energy efficiency and jobs (Demand Side Podcast).
MUSIC: Brazilita, a sweet little version of the song Brazil.

Play Episode 32 from this page:

Click to Download Episode 32.

Listen to Part II in the series, Episode 31:

Listen to Part I in the series, Episode 30, (20-minute abridged version):

May 31, 2010

GDAE Podcast - Episode 31

Second in a series.... (See link to abridged Part I below)

Common Interests on the Left & Right - Part II

Left & Right Populists Working Together: to fix our flawed democracy

What is a "principled" conservative: Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone magazine has some thoughts

Audit the Fed: Bernie Sanders leads the Left & Right to push for Senate Unanimous vote on Amendment to "audit the Fed."

Bush war-crimes-Prosecution: Law Professor Francis Boyle describes the complaint he filed in January 2010 with the International Criminal Court

MUSIC: Yankee Network, out of Baltimore, "6 at 65".

Play Episode 31 from this page:

Click to Download Episode 31.

Listen to Part I in the series, Episode 30, (20-minute abridged version):

June 17, 2009

Left Vs Right Populism

This is just a teaser post.

Libhom left the following comment recently:

I listened to your podcast on the populist right a week or two ago [April 24], and I want to blog about the subject of left populism[...] haven't gotten around to it yet.

Left populism is a point of view that deserves a lot more consideration and support, yet I've read a lot of prose on the left against it.

A historian friend passed the following to me:

Ben Tillman, governor of South Carolina and later US Senator, is considered by some to be a right wing "populist" during the populist movement in the late 18o0s. He was part of the agrarian revolt that attempted to change economic policy to help farmers who lost their farms and were forced into share cropping, and unending debt. He never became part of the Populist Party and others think his adoption of Populist Party platform elements, while remaining a member of the racist Democratic Party, took support away from the Populist Party.

At the same time, Tom Watson, of Georgia, was a populist leader who allied with black people, which was taboo at the time. He could be considered "left wing" in some regards. It is said elsewhere that he supported a KKK organization. He served in the US House of Representatives and Senate in the 1890s and was supposedly considered as a running mate by William Jennings Bryan.

Suffice it to say, regardless of the specifics of these two individuals, the populist movement of the 1890s were composed of both "right" and "left" wing elements that shared common economic concerns. The same coalition could have a role in current politics, and in Baltimore, MD, a US Senate candidate (2006), Kevin Zeese, ran as a "fusion" candidate, drawing from both the Green Party (left) and Libertarian Party (right).

Much more could be said on this subject, hence the "teaser" aspect of this post.

Sources:

Lawrence Goodwyn, The Populist Moment: A Short History of the Agrarian Revolt in America, is a good source.

March 1, 2009

Obama Talk'n Like a Populist

Under the headline "Obama challenges lobbyists to legislative duel" we hear some words form Obama that are supposed to comfort the angry masses:

The system we have now might work for the powerful and well-connected interests that have run Washington for far too long... But I don't. I work for the American people. [1]

We have reason to doubt that statement. In the context of setting the direction of the financial industry bailout, Obama sided with the Wall-streeters in his administration rather than the internal administration faction that urged taking a harder line. According to a February 10, 2009 New York Times article,

“The Obama administration’s new plan to bail out the nation’s banks was fashioned after a spirited internal debate that pitted the Treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, against some of the president’s top political hands.

“In the end, Geithner largely prevailed in opposing tougher conditions on financial institutions that were sought by presidential aides, including David Axelrod, senior adviser to the president.” [2]

As featured in the upcoming Episode 7 of GDAE Podcast, even if the Obama administration takes the right technical steps, there are many subjective decisions yet to be made. These policy decisions will be subject to intense pressure from the powerful and now-desperate banking elite. Obama knows this and is talking tough:

I know these steps won't sit well with the special interests and lobbyists who are invested in the old way of doing business, and I know they're gearing up for a fight... My message to them is this: So am I. [1]

We are at a historical juncture that demands a historical level of public pressure on Obama, and other officials, to ensure they make decisions consistent with his populist rhetoric. This is a once-in-a-generation moment when our collective voices could change the course of the people's history. Let's make noise!

Psssst... Do Something

Contact the Broadcast Media
Contact the Newspapers
Contact the US Senate
Contact the House of Representatives

Sources:

1. Associated Press, Obama challenges lobbyists to legislative duel, February 28, 2009.

2. New York Times, Geithner Said to Have Prevailed on the Bailout, February 10, 2009.

March 18, 2008

Obama Fingers the Corporate Villain

Recently I've been thinking of casting a protest vote against Obama, assuming he wins the Democratic nomination. First, he and Clinton have been pathetic in the face of Israel's collective punishment and disproportionate use of force in the Gaza strip. Second was the way he denounced pastor Jeremiah Wright's for his honest, albeit politically incorrect, statements about "damning" the US for it's imperial adventures through out history - .

But Obama has made a "come back" speech. It's summed up in an Associated Press article:

Most of the speech was fairly high-minded, with few if http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifany overt appeals for votes. Obama doubtlessly raised eyebrows in many circles, however, with a populist pivot that named a new villain in the racial divide.

"Black anger" and "white resentments," he said, have "distracted attention from the real culprits of the middle-class squeeze: a corporate culture rife with inside dealing, questionable accounting practices and short-term greed."

Yes. Before we, the little people, start fighting for the scraps during the coming harsh recession, we should recognize that the corporate elite want to create divisions so we don't target the true villains. Obama has pointed them out for us.

The "divide" with which we should be concerned is the class dived, not the racial divide. The privileges of corporate charters, exploited by the elite class, need to be reeled in.

Sources:

Associated Press, Analysis: Obama grabs race issue, March 18, 2008.

January 25, 2007

Jim Webb on Wealth Gap: 2007 State of the Union Response

Transcript of the Democratic response to president George Bush's 2007 State of the Union Address. The Democrats selected Jim Webb, freshman senator from Virginia, who has populist sentiments. He shared his views on using the economic system for everyone, not just those who have enough money to make more money. This view is taking hold, now that we have several decades of experience that demonstrate the failures free market fundamentalism. The primary failure is that wealth accumulates among a small minority, and away from the vast majority. Jim Webb addressed the wealth gap head on. Hopefully the Democratic Party understands this and will act on it.

Webb framed the issue as, "... how we see the health of our economy, how we measure it, and how we ensure that its benefits are properly shared among all Americans."

When one looks at the health of our economy it's almost as if we are living in two different countries. Some say things have never been better. The stock market IS at an all time high and so are corporate profits. But these benefits are not being fairly shared.

When I graduated from college, the average corporate CEO made 20 times what the average worker did. Today, it’s nearly 400 times. In other words, it takes the average worker more than a year to make the money that his or her boss makes in one day.

Wages and salaries of our workers are at an all time low as a percentage of our national wealth even though the productivity of American workers is the highest in the world. Medical costs have skyrocketed, college tuitions are off the charts. Our manufacturing base is being dismantled and sent overseas. Good American jobs are being sent along with them. In short, the middle class of this country, our historic backbone and our best hope for a strong society in the future is loosing its place at the table. Our workers know this through painful experience. Our white collar professionals are beginning to understand it as their jobs are disappearing also. And they expect, rightly, that in this age of globalization, their government has a duty to insist that their concerns be dealt with fairly in the international market place.

In the early days of our republic, president Andrew Jackson established an important principle of American style democracy. That we should measure the health of our society not at its apex but at its base. Not with the numbers that come out of Wall Street, but with the living conditions that exist on Main Street. We must recapture that spirit today.

See E.J. Dionne commentary, "A Reagan Democrat"
I wouldn't put it that way. He's a populist democrat in the tradition of the agrarian revolt of the late 1800s.

December 28, 2006

Edwards Speaks Truth to Power

True, like other national candidates under that have to contend with the potential of unwarranted corporate media feeding frenzies, Edward has to be cautious about what he says. However, unlike most candidates, he is the best at speaking truth to power.

Edwards is a populist in the finest tradition described best by Lawrence Goodwyn. This is a tradition of true participatory democracy, contrary to negative connotations placed on the word "populist" by some historians (the chairs of which were probably funded by plutocrats).

The policy underpinnings of populist movements rest on an understanding and appreciation of economic forces. It isn't a sterile view of economics as the center of the world, rather it views economics in its proper role relative to other social aspects of our world, family, self-respect independent of monetary standing, appreciation of natural wonders, artistic expression, genuine compassion. The spirit of this view is what Martin Luther King would later call a “sense of somebodiness.” It views economics as an engine that can enable social aspirations, not as an end in itself.

One of the greatest taboos in society today is to challenge corporate globalization, founded on neo-liberal, free market, Washington consensus economic theory. Edwards has taken a stand in opposition to corporate globalization. He knows it is a naive view of economics at best, and a cynical power grab of the worlds resources by a plutocracy at worst. Evidence suggests the later is true, though many half-informed peopled are enamored by the supposed theoretical underpinnings of free market fundamentalism, such as the notion of comparative advantage, introduced by David Ricardo.

By challenging this taboo subject head-on, Edwards is speaking truth to power. If for no other reason, Edwards deserves the distinction of being called a true leader.

GDAEman

November 13, 2010

An Invitation

October 1, 2010

GDAE Podcast - Episode 34

July 25, 2010

GDAE Podcast Episode 32

May 31, 2010

GDAE Podcast - Episode 31

June 17, 2009

Left Vs Right Populism

March 1, 2009

Obama Talk'n Like a Populist

March 18, 2008

Obama Fingers the Corporate Villain

January 25, 2007

Jim Webb on Wealth Gap: 2007 State of the Union Response

December 28, 2006

Edwards Speaks Truth to Power

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