04-11-2017, 12:57 PM
(This post was last modified: 04-11-2017, 01:30 PM by Eric the Green.)
(04-11-2017, 12:26 PM)X_4AD_84 Wrote:(04-10-2017, 11:03 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: Steve Bannon is often labelled a "populist" by the media. I find this hard to stomach. In what sense is he a "populist?"
He does not favor or act in the interests of the people, but only for the rich and powerful. He is "deconstructing the administrative state," which means, deconstructing the public-interest state. He is destroying the organs of government that protect the people from a dictatorship by the bosses. Bannon is the opposite of a populist. He is an elitist, pure and simple. He upholds absolute rule by the bosses.
He's a populist for angry white people. He harnesses their anger and hatred of Latino illegal immigrants, blacks, Muslims, and globalism.
But then what does the word "populist" mean? Just that he appeals to some popular opinions? That doesn't mean a thing. Every politician seeks the approval of enough of the populace to get elected. "The elite," then, means nothing except those who don't vote for the winner. In Bannon/Trump's case, I guess this means "Latinos, blacks, Muslims, and globalists."
Nope, that's not populism. Populism extols and advocates the interests of most of the people against the elites. NO Republican or neo-liberal today can be a populist, because they represent the power of wealth, which is the elite of this country, and which owns and runs it.