Populism vs. Ideology
Messaging is about repeating the same message in a number of ways until something sticks. So, I’ve said many of these things before. So, let’s consider this a public service announcement. If you are tired of reading this message I invite you to move onto the next piece. One of the struggles that those left of center have is in the arena of issue framing, The right just does a better job.
I have mentioned this before, but a lot of this comes down to a grievance vs. gratitutde mindset. Keep in mind that I haven’t even taken a single stand or offered any judgement on whether people should be in a grievance state. Some have every right to be. Someone or something has screwed them over. The job of the populist is to find someone or something to pin it on.
People who are happy don’t respond to scapegoating. People who are unhappy do. Part of the problem with scapegoating is that some people have no right to be in a grievance state. Populists don’t care. They are willing to stoke anger even if it is dangerous. The other part of the problem is that no matter what direction people are coming from, the target of the populists is never the only geniune target. That’s true whether they are billionaires, undocumented immigrants, women, African-Americans, LGTBQ+, or whoever else they could possibly blame.
This is why anti-woke exists. This is why Antifa is so vilified. This is why CRT has been stretched and expanded beyond any recognition. It is why all of these things seem like they are speaking in code. It’s because they are. Woke can mean whatever we want it to mean. It obviously sounds better than hating African-Americans, ethnic minorities, women, or people with alternative identifies and lifestyles.
The difference in populists is that some honestly believe they have foubd the bogeyman. Bernie Sanders certainly did but his tune hasn’t changed in over 40 years in politics. Others obviously do not. They know they are pointing the finger at the wrong folks and they don’t care. They are all too willing at taking people’s anger and frustration and pointing it at a direction away from where it might otherwise logically go.
People in a grievance state are governed by anger. People governed by anger don’t listen to facts or reason. They just want a direction to aim their anger. So, your choice is either to give them one or find a way to transform them from grievance to gratitude. It’s obviously easier said and done. Yet, when arguing in logic, reason, or facts is like screaming into the void. It doesn’t accomplish anything.
Populism isn’t tethered to ideology on either side. Gratitude allows people to consider others. It allows them to buy into a cogent ideology that forms a worldview that makes sense. The world would be a better place if we adopt THESE individual strategies that are all connected and all are consistent with that world view. Progressives, leftists, and liberals are treating the national debate like an ideological one. It isn’t. The right has been taken over by a populist. Populism is never tethered completely to ideology. So, continuing an ideological debate is like screaming into the void. No one will be there to hear the message unless they already believe.
Populism by definition is a strategy to appeal to the “common man” and to convince them as a candidate that you are their champion against the elite. I don’t think Donald Trump figured that out on his own but it worked in 2016. To me there is a lot of irony in the “common man” thinking a person such as Trump would have their backs. Just look at his tax plans. I think his being their champion is equal in irony to his being the savior to evangelicals, etc. Again, don’t think he was smart enough or could relate to them without a lot of handlers directing him to become a populist champion. He could have given a shit about the common man, and still doesn’t.
1Sometimes screaming into the void is all I’ve got.
2I think it boils down to something even simpler. Corpulent Crime Lord is a bully, and his most basic appeal is to bullies who want to be just like him. See Ted Cruz, for example. The Proud Boys. The Oath Keepers. MTG and Lauren Boebert. Matt Gaetz and the rest of that whole sorry crowd. All bullies.
The Bible says we’ll always have the poor among us. We’ll always have bullies, too. The NSGOP has turned it into a national psychosis.
3“grievance vs. gratitude”
I’m pretty much a grouch, so I guess I’m aggrieved on the left.
And the bogeyman, for me, is the GOP. I just don’t understand how someone who is not a white, cis-het, male can sign on that dotted line. Turkeys cheering for Thanksgiving!
If Bernie is my example, I’m happy with that. I was rooting for him the last two times around.
Get off my lawn! 😉
4This is a very diffuse statement of an extremely important principle, which is that the bully does not care whose head he breaks. Of course the cheapest and most convenient target is chosen, but relative cost can fluctuate very rapidly across time and other aspects of context. What this means is that it is no good trying to mitigate the damage caused by bullies by trying to protect one victim at a time. All this can do is throw other classes of victims under the bus. You’ve got to go after the bully himself and remove him from the arena.
5Once aga, it comes down to the GOP manipulating people through invoking greed and intolerance. You know, the core values of their voters.
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