I’m not a political science major, local politician… hell, I’m not even a political activist as much as I’d love to convince myself that I am. I’m a multiracial guy from two immigrants who was raised in a melting pot of a city, being told my whole childhoold that I live in the greatest country in the world and I can never question it.
From a quick search, populism is a political doctrine that supports the rights and powers of the common people in their struggle with the privileged elite. From my interpretation of the definition, Trumpism is not populism, but capitalism under the guise of populism. That being said, at the end of the day, I prefer to use as little labels as possible (politician names, political parties, ideologies, etc). Everyone has their own interpretation, experiences, biases, and understanding of such labels. It feels almost self-defeating to discuss politics using labels instead of discussing the actual issues, at least to me.
If you don’t mind, I’d rather discuss the core problem: Trump was able to exploit the working-class people who have, for whatever reason, felt disillusioned by both parties. It was a ruse that many people saw through, but many also did not. In the past few decades, wealth has been further distributed to those few that control most media, corporations, and legislation. The minimum wage has remained the same despite the massive increase in the cost of living. More and more people are feeling less and less fulfilled. More and more people are less and less likely to be able to retire. I can go on and on. That has been a slow, persisting threat that has spread throughout several administrations representing both parties.
Whatever you choose to call my beliefs is on you, I’m simply offering my perspective to anyone who’s interested in listening. I’m just a random guy who doesn’t mean shit compared to the people in charge and sees the silent suffering of the people around me that I love and care about. And the people who I don’t know that are going through the same exact shit. Maybe all this is just my way of coping with the chaos of the world, but to me, it feels like more people agree than we’re led to believe.
I completely agree with every single one of your points. At the same time… some of the memes are fucking hilarious when not taken seriously. It’s extremely difficult not to take it as such, though, with a topic as inherently severe as politics.
Populism is the mass appeal of demagogues involving simplistic, faceless enemies and equally simplistic solutions to problems. It is not evidence-based and it’s policies are often counter productive.
Populism is a cancer and politicians that use populist rhetoric should be considered inherently untrustworthy.
Problems do exist and the solutions to those problems should be found in sound, evidence-based policies, not conspiracy theories about global elites.
Everyone one of your complaints, for instance, is reflective of a real concept but is inherently misleading to more effectively appeal to people like you, who are self-identifying as not very knowledgeable about policy. I am not being mean here - this is an intentional tactic, and it is a very real concept.
Let’s take an example: “the minimum wage has not gone up.”
This is misleading for several reasons
1: state minimum wage has absolutely gone up in very many states, and exceeds the federal.minimum
As you check that (progressive, pro-$15 minimum wage) site, you’ll also note that 28 states have raised their minimum wage recently, 30 states + DC have a min wage higher than federal minimum, and 8 states effectively have no minimum wage.
2: 98.5% of working adults do not make minimum wage.
So what’s the real reason here? It’s obviously not a minimum wage concern. The real reason is simple: most Americans feel economically left behind.
Only by addressing this actual fact, and debating and discussing policies about this thing both parties and most Americans can agree on, can we move away from dangerous, divisive rhetoric and back toward actual policy discussion.
I’m not a political science major, local politician… hell, I’m not even a political activist as much as I’d love to convince myself that I am. I’m a multiracial guy from two immigrants who was raised in a melting pot of a city, being told my whole childhoold that I live in the greatest country in the world and I can never question it.
From a quick search, populism is a political doctrine that supports the rights and powers of the common people in their struggle with the privileged elite. From my interpretation of the definition, Trumpism is not populism, but capitalism under the guise of populism. That being said, at the end of the day, I prefer to use as little labels as possible (politician names, political parties, ideologies, etc). Everyone has their own interpretation, experiences, biases, and understanding of such labels. It feels almost self-defeating to discuss politics using labels instead of discussing the actual issues, at least to me.
If you don’t mind, I’d rather discuss the core problem: Trump was able to exploit the working-class people who have, for whatever reason, felt disillusioned by both parties. It was a ruse that many people saw through, but many also did not. In the past few decades, wealth has been further distributed to those few that control most media, corporations, and legislation. The minimum wage has remained the same despite the massive increase in the cost of living. More and more people are feeling less and less fulfilled. More and more people are less and less likely to be able to retire. I can go on and on. That has been a slow, persisting threat that has spread throughout several administrations representing both parties.
Whatever you choose to call my beliefs is on you, I’m simply offering my perspective to anyone who’s interested in listening. I’m just a random guy who doesn’t mean shit compared to the people in charge and sees the silent suffering of the people around me that I love and care about. And the people who I don’t know that are going through the same exact shit. Maybe all this is just my way of coping with the chaos of the world, but to me, it feels like more people agree than we’re led to believe.
Spot on!
Labels are a big problem and are imo related to the issue of echo chambers online. Along with memes that vilify other outside viewpoints.
I completely agree with every single one of your points. At the same time… some of the memes are fucking hilarious when not taken seriously. It’s extremely difficult not to take it as such, though, with a topic as inherently severe as politics.
Populism is the mass appeal of demagogues involving simplistic, faceless enemies and equally simplistic solutions to problems. It is not evidence-based and it’s policies are often counter productive.
Populism is a cancer and politicians that use populist rhetoric should be considered inherently untrustworthy.
Problems do exist and the solutions to those problems should be found in sound, evidence-based policies, not conspiracy theories about global elites.
Everyone one of your complaints, for instance, is reflective of a real concept but is inherently misleading to more effectively appeal to people like you, who are self-identifying as not very knowledgeable about policy. I am not being mean here - this is an intentional tactic, and it is a very real concept.
Let’s take an example: “the minimum wage has not gone up.”
This is misleading for several reasons
1: state minimum wage has absolutely gone up in very many states, and exceeds the federal.minimum
https://www.epi.org/minimum-wage-tracker/
As you check that (progressive, pro-$15 minimum wage) site, you’ll also note that 28 states have raised their minimum wage recently, 30 states + DC have a min wage higher than federal minimum, and 8 states effectively have no minimum wage.
2: 98.5% of working adults do not make minimum wage.
https://www.zippia.com/advice/minimum-wage-statistics/#:~:text=What percentage of Americans make,make the federal minimum wage.
So what’s the real reason here? It’s obviously not a minimum wage concern. The real reason is simple: most Americans feel economically left behind.
Only by addressing this actual fact, and debating and discussing policies about this thing both parties and most Americans can agree on, can we move away from dangerous, divisive rhetoric and back toward actual policy discussion.
If you’d like I’d be happy to do this about all of your concerns, but it would make an extremely long post even longer so I didn’t do it all at once.