Populists

This might be a good time to read up on the Populists of the 1890's. Karl Rove-and others of that ilk-are saying that Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich are modern day populists. This source says that because they "bark a lot"; their style is to express "popular outrage". But the real populists of history did not "bark" at "poor people, teachers, unions, liberals, minorities, protesters, environmentalists, gays, immigrants or other demonized groups that generally reside far outside the center of the power structure". Populists were those who stood "up against the corporate powers that be", that supported "ordinary folks in their ongoing democratic fight against the moneyed elites". This source provides a definition of populism as a movement with a "focus on breaking the iron grip that big corporations have on our country-including on our economy, government, media and environment". A definition of classic liberalism is a movement that "seeks to live in harmony with concentrated corporate power by trying to regulate its excesses". This source also notes that populism is either ignored-in the classroom-or "trivialized as a quirky pitchfork rebellion by rubes and rascists" over the issue of "free silver".

(Source: "The Spark of Populism" by Jim Hightower in The Progressive magazine July 2009).