The People's Army
It was a time when a demoralized population was subjected to corrupt elections, the spineless press was censored and subsidized by muscled partisan agents, outrageous interest rates implemented by suit-wearing pirates bankrupted citizens, and unfair mortgages left people homeless and desperate. Meanwhile, land concentration forced poor people off valuable property and ensured corporate profits continued to balloon unregulated.
The poor kept getting poorer, the rich kept getting richer, and all the while an elite class fought to reinforce arbitrary divides between the working class to keep them -- the angry masses -- at bay and squabbling among themselves.
The year was 1892. From this systematic abuse of the poor arose the People's Party, or the Populist Party, one of the original third parties in the history of the United States. Mainly farmers, the Populist Party bridged a divide and united two groups that many politicians saw as hopelessly and permanently estranged: northern Republicans and southern Democrats, the city-slickers and good ole' boys -- white and black. If you want to be crude about it: the intellectual north and ass-backwards south.
At the time, Republicans were the ones who were anti-slavery. The Democratic southerners wanted a return to the "better time" where lavish plantations lined verdant cotton fields. Republican northerners wanted an eight-hour week day and streets that weren't lined with feces. Naturally, blacks liked the Republican party because 99.9% of them were a little nervous the crazy Democrats would enslave them again.
Think: red state-blue state, but turned on its head. It feels only vaguely unfamiliar, like a dream. Except, it happened. It happened in this very country 115 years ago.
A Colored Farmers National Alliance emerged. Even Alabamians saw the need for racial unity. The official newspaper of the Alabama Knights of Labor, the Alabama Sentinel, wrote: "The Bourbon Democracy are trying to down the Alliance with the old cry 'nigger'. It won't work though" (Zinn, A People's History Of The United States).
The respective Alliances asked themselves a basic question: What is equality?
Luckily, the Founding Fathers had already answered the question. Human beings are born with certain unalienable rights. If a society wishes to call itself moral and free, it must protect these rights, which include the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The good news is: these rights are free. They belong to the people. The bad news is: rich men always try to take away these rights away and lease them back to poor people with interest rates tacked on.
As in 1892, today in 2007, we are undergoing a class crisis. A weakened union full of religiously and racially segregated sects, and an inflated state of Corporatism, threaten to sever the spinal cord of this fragile democracy.
Only now, everyone can see the Emperor has no clothes. The banks are operating on a prayer and the lie that Fort Knox still has gold in its dusty vaults. People are sitting in tent cities after they lose their homes because vulture capitalists gave them loans they knew poor people couldn't afford to pay. Congress voted to let sick children die. Poor soldiers are shipped off to Iraq to stand atop IEDs so Bush and Clinton legacies don't have to.
But what happened in 1892? Things were bad back then, but the people managed to temporarily reverse some damage and restore a little bit of democracy. How did they do it?
People took shit personally back then. If one poor person was wronged, then they were all wronged. Tom Watson, the Populist leader of Georgia, said:
"You are kept apart that you may be separately fleeced of your earnings. You are made to hate each other because upon that hatred is rested the keystone of the arch of financial despotism which enslaves you both. You are deceived and blinded that you may not see how this race antagonism perpetuates a monetary system which beggars both" (Zinn, History).
In other words, by identifying with the weakest among them, the party grew stronger.
Imagine what would have been possible if we saw Katrina victims, who stood for days on their rooftops, less as a painful reminder of a collective immoral history, and more as needful brothers and sisters. There would have been no demand for the fat FEMA bureaucrats to waddle their way southward. There would have already been a damn army down there - A People's Army - moving debris and saving lives.
What happened to that 1892 collective spirit? Populism, like so many ideologies, went the way of the dinosaur the moment politicians got their grubby hands on it and stuffed money down its throat, fattening the body like a helpless goose pre-Foie Gras.
The irony, of course, is that Populism was never meant for the elite politicians. Populism belongs to the people, as does the unfortunate issue of the class divide. Poor people are delusional if they think politicians will declare progressive taxation or universal health care on their own. As if one day Dubya will roll out of bed, watch the sun rise over the White House lawn and think: By God! I should be taxing the rich! Not the poor!
Thankfully, much has changed since 1892, but what hasn't changed is "change" itself. Change begins from the bottom and grows upward like vines. Change begins with the poor working class, who should demand much more than the crumbs they have been given.
Follow Allison Kilkenny on Twitter: www.twitter.com/allisonkilkenny
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My simple advice: use the Internet for what it was designed to do. The world's greatest research library is at your mouse-pointer. The Librarians of Congress give you a play by play of the Congressional Record very nearly in real-time.
This country is on the rocks but it is FAR from lost.
"Demand excellence" from your elected leaders, and if you don't get that ... especially if they commit a crime ... THROW THEM OUT. Put them in jail. And since the Congress has figured out how to "cross-ruff the game" to protect against that, put such enormous pressure upon them that they begin to break ranks to save their own skin.
"The best thing that you can hope for" in this world is precisely equal to "the worst thing that you are willing to accept."
We have "accepted" far too much. It does not have to continue to be this way. Working within the system that was so delicately set forth in pen-and-ink on just one sheet of vellum, a nation can be re-born IF we accept nothing less.
I think the first step here is 'balance the budget'. That should be on signs, t-shirts,
public vehicles should have it stencilled
somewhere, neatly, profession
any ideas), and it should become a common
theme of public debate. By having a 'feed trough' with a locking top, and a big burly guy with a sharp, pointed stick who doesn't have
the keys, yes, these are all just visual
images, but from images thoughts can be
rendered, action can be taken, and so forth,
so bear with me while I commit my literary
graffiti, anyway, big guy, sharp stick,
padlock keys held by third party, usual band
of fatties held at bay=less vacuuming of
the public's finances to build bridges to
nowhere and OTHER sunshine stories, and
alleviation of problems like Murkinz being
put in a position of paying taxes to foreign
countries and all that. Call it a bullshit
firewall, call it what you will, IG BushCo
has robbed the treasury to their hearts'
content, and to prevent it from happening
again, Congress is going to have to author
an Act that severely restricts any and
all federal spending. My suggestion is an
across-the-board 30% budget cut as the
least painful of all possible remedies, 40%
would be faster acting, but you don't want
to put people out in the street, either.
Anyway, the 9+ trillion in red ink needs
to be addressed. See any good trees? Know
any really big angry-looking mean people that
aren't in jail? Schlage is a pretty good
brand, for the lock, but there's others...
but, if you're serious about the public
corruption thing, take away the incentive
by reducing the amount of spending that
takes place each year. Oversight, public
accountability, checks and balances, on-the-spot
firings, all that and more. The campaign
symbol(here I go again with the little pictures)
should be a crossed broom and scoopshovel,
purposes readily apparent, I think...
It is refreshing to see a glimmer of true "freedom of the Press."
Yet there is one thing we must still dispel: the notion that "a Presidential election eleven months from now, to choose from among a panel of carefully hand-picked 'so-called candidates,'" will do anything at all ... or that we can afford to wait that long.
We were handed a simple system of laws that has worked for more than 230 years even though it was written by hand on a single piece of vellum. But it only means what we compel it to mean.
It must still be realized that what has been done to us all is a High Crime and that it has involved all three Branches of Government at the same time, thus sabotaging the "checks and balances" system.
But still... a crime. Not "the way it is now," nor "the way it must be," but ... a Crime, in fact hundreds of them, that must be punished now.
Our democracy is fragile. Less than half of eligible voters turned out for the last presidential race. You can be sure it was not the rich who stayed at home to avoid the overly complicated ballots.
Adding to the current problems is the recent history of politicians who simply are not interested in representing the people. Recall the large majority that opposed the impeachment of Clinton and all the time spent doing what the people did not want. That represents the personality of the Beltway politicians going back at least to Reagan. Who wants to elect more corporate androids.
For all the reasons cited in this article, we the People have been divided and conquered. Have we finally realized our desperation? One might hope so. But the entrenched oligarchy will continue to buy us, to pay us to do their will. That's business as usual.
I have been on the losing end for so long now, I find it difficult even to hope that we can have a People's victory. We can't when people cannot be bothered to do the work of democracy.
Yes, our democracy is fragile.
Finally! A very refreshing post, Allison. There are indeed those of us who have wearied of the pageantry and HS that passes for candidates and ideals. There are those of us that realize a third party must return.
An ideal candidate would model himself, (or herself) on the expressions of Eugene V. Debs. Debs, as you might recall recieved 12 million popular votes for President while languishing in the Atlanta Pen, ostensibly for his opposition to US entry into the Great War.
His words, spoken in speeches, cited in books and preserved on gramophone was Populist to the core, representing the workingman at every turn. He lashed out at our corporate masters and their greed. He dismissed the two political parties as servants of the same master.
This happened 100 years ago. Just how far have we progressed?
To really understand the class problem, one must understand the roots, motivation and endgame of capitalism. Thanks to Milton Friedman who brought the concept of free-market enterprise and privatization of economies to the world, while nations were in turmoil or post-disas
When government fails it's citizens, privateers step in and "Hallelujah!" and "Thank-You, Jebus"..pe
I recommend to all that along with Howard Zinn's book(s) you read Naomi Klein's "Shock Doctrine".
People must make a conscious choice to fight for what they believe in. The problem is that most people just accept the status-quo. They are either too afraid or just don't understand the stakes. Those who are slightly "up-the-cl
Thanks, Allison..r
I've watched this city burn twice
in my lifetime
and the most notable thing
was the arrival of the
politicians in the
aftermath
proclaiming the wrongs of
the system
and demanding new
policies toward and for the
poor.
nothing was corrected last
time.
nothing will be corrected this
time.
the poor will remain poor.
the unemployed will remain
so.
the homeless will remain
homeless
and the politicians,
fat upon the land, will live
very well.
Bukowski - "The Riots"
Thanks for beginning this dialogue Allison. Good points.
Here are my thoughts:
Those of us who survived Hugo or Andrew were not surprised by Katrina; we Predicted it.
It is the nature of governments to eventually oppress the People they were created to serve.
It is up to the People to detect and change this oppression.
Elections are just a distraction from the real Government. The vote may just be a 4-year pacifier placating the simple-minded in order to prevent them from doing anything that might actually have an impact on The Machine.
The War on Drugs is a holocaust against the American People.
The War on Terror is a lie and was destined for failure before it left the Palace. It is not being waged for the stated reasons.
Traitorous Corporate America has sold the country down the road.
The Justice system - Isn't.
Laws are made by the rich, so who do you suppose they favor?
The police and military are mercenaries for the Rich. If you battle police and soldiers you will be sidelined or permanently taken out of the game.
Don't fight the mercenaries of The Rich.
Change will only come when the Rich feel The Pain.
Bring The Pain to the Rich.
Amazing work Allison!
Populism, by itself, I don't think it'll do
a whole lot. Populism with a purpose, like
creating more independent business owners,
that might do a little something, there.
Part of the problem these days I think is
that we've got these Gigantor institutions,
these monstrous corporations, who are effectively able to pick and choose their next
employee at-will. Kind of like breeding a
given breed, well maybe weed-and-feed, but
they get to work some pretty high-handed
management magic. Just think, a global
virtual company town. Are you a whiner?
Want too much money? You never shut up about
your rights? Don't like being arbitrarily
reassigned? Fine. You're fired. Now you've got
plenty of time to air your grievances. No
audience though, everyone ELSE is at work today.
Got any unpaid parking tickets? Wasn't that
YOU at that demonstration on this video, here?
You won't be RENTING from us, either...b
labor at our disposal, too...so what, they don't
speak english...
LOL
rEVOLution!!!!
It's about time we started talking honestly about class. We have some dream, taught to us in grade school, that the United States is some kind of ideal democracy in which classism does not exist; therefore it's rude to speak as if it does. "What?! What do you mean, some votes count, others don't?" This ignorance renders us speechless, and our approach to class issues is juvenile. Until now. I guess this is how bad it's got to get. Thanks, Allison.
I've had Zinn's People's History in my pile of books for a while. You just moved it up the depth chart a few places.
The difficulty populist movements encounter is that our political system was specifically designed to prevent the success of populist movements.
It's why we vote not for policies and laws but only for "wiser heads" who will tell us what our policies and laws will be.
Ironically, while our politicians loudly trumpet the benefits of Democracy, the thing they secretly fear the most is more Democracy.
An excellent post. The similarities between those times and these are numerous. I just hope and pray that the people who can see what the big corporations are doing to the working class will actually get out and vote for the ones who will truly stand up for the people, not big pharma, insurance companies who won't pay, venture capitalists who dismantle companies and send jobs overseas, oil companies rigging prices and war profiteering, MSM's trashing populist messengers, and all the other sleazeballs shovelling money into the primaries. Unfortunately Kucinich has almost no chance, but Edwards can win if enough people have faith and actually get out and vote for a real fighter. EDWARDS/DODD '08!
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