What are your thoughts on populism?

[Syrinx]

Jim Hightower is a populist. But so is Pat Buchanan and Ross Perot. And Lonesome Rhodes and former Judge Roy Moore.

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One entry found for populist.
Main Entry: 1pop·u·list
Pronunciation: 'pä-py&-list
Function: noun
Etymology: Latin populus the people
Date: 1892
1 : a member of a political party claiming to represent the common people; especially often capitalized : a member of a U.S. political party formed in 1891 primarily to represent agrarian interests and to advocate the free coinage of silver and government control of monopolies
2 : a believer in the rights, wisdom, or virtues of the common people
- pop·u·lism /-"li-z&m/ noun
- pop·u·lis·tic /"pä-py&-'lis-tik/ adjective

[Syncronaut Seven]

1. Ever watch Jerry Springer?

.

[Syrinx]

2. those people aren't representative for anyone

I hope not, anyway.

I'm a Southerner so it's cool to say this. :)

They have that many rednecks in Chicago?

[Syncronaut Seven]

3. I'm in O-ry-gun

And yes, In fact redneck would be quite a step up for a few of my neighbors. Im practically ready to move to Bombay, just for a change of scenery.

[politicat]

4. might be the way to get the middle and working class to stop voting --

against their own interests. Depends on the platform and how it is presented.

Here's how I put it:
1) representing the economic interests of those whose entire net worth is valued by their labor and not by inheritance or familial wealth.

2) representing the economic interests of those whose businesses are based on a very small group of people such as a family or partnership rather than a corporation of a wide number of stockholders.

3) representing the interests of human citizens and permanent residents over the interests of non-human corporations and seeking the repeal of the ruling that applied teh 14th amendment to corporations.

4) representing the social interests of those most vulnerable to poverty and unemployment and protecting the protections of those individuals.


The party has changed from the 19th century, no doubt. Molly Ivins calls herself a populist too. Michael Moore does, occasionally too. I think Perot and Buchanan have hijacked it.

Perot is a perotista - he's interested in his own strange self.... and Buchanan is really very odd. He's the type that gives nostalgia a bad name. He doesn't seem to realize that no, the 50's weren't so great. And the 1950s weren't much better. He reminds me of a Luddite.

Politicat

[w4rma]

5. economically the 50's were great. socially they were regressive. (n/t)

[Zorra]

6. Populism is basically synonymous with democratic. n/t