PROGRESSIVE POPULISM

Having suggested what I think are some of the very different concepts in play in the dominant discussion of populism, and argued that one that's ubiquitous in those discussions - prejudice - is out of place, it's only fair that I take a stab at setting forth what the concept of populism is that's in play when I call myself a populist and urge the Democrats to take on the mantle and meaning of populism. I won't bother to argue that the conception of populism I'll put forth here is somehow more real or historically accurate than the others floating around. What I feel strongest about when it comes to how use the word itself is simply, as I said yesterday, that the conflation of populism and prejudice by economic elites is deeply disingenuous, reflects a deeply entrenched class bias, and underpins a long-term campaign to mark the majority unfit to govern and its criticism of corporate power rank demagoguery. That said, here are a few of the contentions which I think underpin a progressive populism: The contention that a healthy economy is one in which the benefits of growth and prosperity should be shared and spread across society. The contention that a just economy is one in which working people exercise a meaningful voice in the conditions and rewards of their work and in economic policy within and between nations. The contention that basic human freedoms and opportunities are universal rights, across lines of race, sex, class, and nation, and not provisional privileges. The contention that the ability of individuals to connect the conditions and challenges of their own lives to those of others, and to their political ideals, has the potential to propel progress. The contention that policy and democracy both suffer when certain sets of experience are driven out of public discourse. The contention that for a politician to seek out and fight for more votes is not the moral equivalent of seeking out and fighting for more dollars. The contention that a willful compact to preserve individual rights by entrusting certain decisions to more insulated institutions is different from and preferable to the unauthorized handover of decisions to enfranchised elites and experts. The contention that the political victories which last are the ones with popular mandates.