I had a lot of time to think on this during Covid...
This once again comes down to priors... the mechanics of free markets are completely devoid of truly "human" measures of flourishing. The workers' movements of the 20th century were attempts to right the capitalist ship, and they did for a time... The problem is we just exported our misery abroad to sate the middle class we were supposedly building up.
That middle class was hoodwinked by the very capitalists that claimed to be liberating it. You cannot walk outside or look at any media in any format, without being reminded that you are first and foremost a consumer. The elite and wealthy will never articulate this truth, but it's plain as day.
I'm not advocating throwing the baby out with the bathwater. But I stand with Sohrab Ahmari when I say I laughed-out-loud at critiques of longshoremen who were picketing. The idea that you have to work 80-hour weeks, often at night - so the economy that never sleeps can keep churning out cheap products that distract us (or make time for our distraction) - just to make 120k in this economy? That's an awful trade.
Conservatives scream about a lack of materialist abstinence as some meritocratic critique of the working class or the welfare queen... but the irony is that if we actually shook off the chains of consumerism long enough to ask what the good life is, their profits would disappear overnight.
I appreciate the consideration of Populism as a framework/philosophy rather than just shorthand for "demagogue.". It can be good or bad, left or right, but is really just a consideration of broadest possible part of the community-across geography, ethnicity, income, education, etc. It's not perfect, but forces the elite (and institutions) to check their assumptions against objective reality and consider things from a different perspective. Having less money, education,opportunity or living in an economically depressed area doesn't make a person stupid or somehow inferior. Everyone has the right to an opinion, to speak their mind & contribute to the national conversations/decisions & the inalienable right to life, liberty & pursuit of happiness. Think of the slogans: United we stand, divided we fall. We are only as strong as the weakest link. At its best, Populism can recognize that communal responsibility and obligation without becoming a tyranny of the majority.
I had a lot of time to think on this during Covid...
This once again comes down to priors... the mechanics of free markets are completely devoid of truly "human" measures of flourishing. The workers' movements of the 20th century were attempts to right the capitalist ship, and they did for a time... The problem is we just exported our misery abroad to sate the middle class we were supposedly building up.
That middle class was hoodwinked by the very capitalists that claimed to be liberating it. You cannot walk outside or look at any media in any format, without being reminded that you are first and foremost a consumer. The elite and wealthy will never articulate this truth, but it's plain as day.
I'm not advocating throwing the baby out with the bathwater. But I stand with Sohrab Ahmari when I say I laughed-out-loud at critiques of longshoremen who were picketing. The idea that you have to work 80-hour weeks, often at night - so the economy that never sleeps can keep churning out cheap products that distract us (or make time for our distraction) - just to make 120k in this economy? That's an awful trade.
Conservatives scream about a lack of materialist abstinence as some meritocratic critique of the working class or the welfare queen... but the irony is that if we actually shook off the chains of consumerism long enough to ask what the good life is, their profits would disappear overnight.
I appreciate the consideration of Populism as a framework/philosophy rather than just shorthand for "demagogue.". It can be good or bad, left or right, but is really just a consideration of broadest possible part of the community-across geography, ethnicity, income, education, etc. It's not perfect, but forces the elite (and institutions) to check their assumptions against objective reality and consider things from a different perspective. Having less money, education,opportunity or living in an economically depressed area doesn't make a person stupid or somehow inferior. Everyone has the right to an opinion, to speak their mind & contribute to the national conversations/decisions & the inalienable right to life, liberty & pursuit of happiness. Think of the slogans: United we stand, divided we fall. We are only as strong as the weakest link. At its best, Populism can recognize that communal responsibility and obligation without becoming a tyranny of the majority.