Unfortunately, an otherwise insightful historical essay was, for me, badly scarred by one ill-conceived and essentially throwaway assertion (since he never made use of it any further). Calling Bernie Sanders a demagogue (and alongside Donald Trump!) causes me to re-think the objectivity of the research that went into this work. I'm not a Bernie Bro but I know an undeserved slight when I see it.
Sounds like you are a Bernie Bro -- or just a Democrat -- if you don’t think Bernie is a demagogue. The dude has run two presidential campaigns on the promise of toppling over the elites while simultaneously running on the ticket of the elites and then licking their boots when they kicked him out of each competition.
And of course like South American politcos, he has gotten rich himself proclaiming the good word of socialism.
Bernie is not in anyway a demagogue. For example, he is always very careful to call for a "political" revolution and only perfectly reasonable programs, such as found in Scandinavia. But he is certainly a populist and a real one too - not beholden to the oligarchy, which controls the Democratic Party and was able to sideline him.
I thought the same thing. Sometimes I get peeved when bothsideism and "moral equivalencies" take on a life of their own, as if fairness demands putting aside common sense. For example, I think "woke-ness" does have its place but only until it begets "cancel-culture." That's a sign that it's crossed the test of common sense. Sure, both Trump and Sanders have personality cults and overly loyal adherents, and Trump is clearly a demagogue, but to lump the two of them under that banner just ignores what Sanders stands for. He is far from a demagogue.
Neither Central Europe or Latin America provide much of a model for US. The US has become a deeply authoritarian country where speech is highly (very highly) restricted.
For people who like numbers, here they are. "George Floyd" get 24.2 million hits in Google. By contrast, "Tony Timpa" gets 20,700 hits in Google. "Justine Damond" gets 52,300 hits in Google. Tony Timpa died in Dallas under circumstances somewhat similar to George Floyd. Justine Damond was shot and killed by the police in Minneapolis.
There is a crucial difference between far-left extremists and far-right extremists. The far-left runs everything and the far-right runs nothing. The 'woke' run the media, Hollywood, Tech, SV, corporate America, Wall Street, K-12 education, universities, the government (including many state governments), the FBI, the CIA, the military, NGOs, etc. What do the anti-'woke' run? Nothing.
Of course, it gets worse. Cori Bush and Kamala Harris both of whom have lied about the death of Michael Brown. Obama's own Justice Department found the death of Michael Brown to be entirely lawful. That hasn't prevent Cori Bush and Kamala Harris from lying about it. Kamala did get four Pinocchios from the Washington Post for her lies.
What we are missing in discussions of threats to American democracy is our educational institutions inability to educate a large percentage of boys and young men. Certainly, girls and young women are doing better educationally than boys and young men and entering the professions in larger numbers.
At one time, industry and the military could absorb this excess of young men, but that is no longer the case. Poorly educated young men with limited or no prospects are cannon fodder for those who wish to upend our democratic constitutional republic.
Lind misses the fact, pointed out by Michael Hudson, that populist authoritarian rulers often arose in pre-Greco-Roman times in response to exploitation by local oligarchies. They used raw power to cancel debts and redistribute land after too many farmers had been reduced to debt servitude. The popular response to exploitation is similar today but new populist rulers usually lack the power to do very much because of the international trade and financial constraints backed by US power.
Unfortunately, an otherwise insightful historical essay was, for me, badly scarred by one ill-conceived and essentially throwaway assertion (since he never made use of it any further). Calling Bernie Sanders a demagogue (and alongside Donald Trump!) causes me to re-think the objectivity of the research that went into this work. I'm not a Bernie Bro but I know an undeserved slight when I see it.
Sounds like you are a Bernie Bro -- or just a Democrat -- if you don’t think Bernie is a demagogue. The dude has run two presidential campaigns on the promise of toppling over the elites while simultaneously running on the ticket of the elites and then licking their boots when they kicked him out of each competition.
And of course like South American politcos, he has gotten rich himself proclaiming the good word of socialism.
Bernie is not in anyway a demagogue. For example, he is always very careful to call for a "political" revolution and only perfectly reasonable programs, such as found in Scandinavia. But he is certainly a populist and a real one too - not beholden to the oligarchy, which controls the Democratic Party and was able to sideline him.
Define how you are using demagogue. Then explain why Trump is that thing and Bernie is not that thing.
The Bernie Bros are ever with us….
I thought the same thing. Sometimes I get peeved when bothsideism and "moral equivalencies" take on a life of their own, as if fairness demands putting aside common sense. For example, I think "woke-ness" does have its place but only until it begets "cancel-culture." That's a sign that it's crossed the test of common sense. Sure, both Trump and Sanders have personality cults and overly loyal adherents, and Trump is clearly a demagogue, but to lump the two of them under that banner just ignores what Sanders stands for. He is far from a demagogue.
Neither Central Europe or Latin America provide much of a model for US. The US has become a deeply authoritarian country where speech is highly (very highly) restricted.
For people who like numbers, here they are. "George Floyd" get 24.2 million hits in Google. By contrast, "Tony Timpa" gets 20,700 hits in Google. "Justine Damond" gets 52,300 hits in Google. Tony Timpa died in Dallas under circumstances somewhat similar to George Floyd. Justine Damond was shot and killed by the police in Minneapolis.
There is a crucial difference between far-left extremists and far-right extremists. The far-left runs everything and the far-right runs nothing. The 'woke' run the media, Hollywood, Tech, SV, corporate America, Wall Street, K-12 education, universities, the government (including many state governments), the FBI, the CIA, the military, NGOs, etc. What do the anti-'woke' run? Nothing.
Of course, it gets worse. Cori Bush and Kamala Harris both of whom have lied about the death of Michael Brown. Obama's own Justice Department found the death of Michael Brown to be entirely lawful. That hasn't prevent Cori Bush and Kamala Harris from lying about it. Kamala did get four Pinocchios from the Washington Post for her lies.
Crazy.
What we are missing in discussions of threats to American democracy is our educational institutions inability to educate a large percentage of boys and young men. Certainly, girls and young women are doing better educationally than boys and young men and entering the professions in larger numbers.
At one time, industry and the military could absorb this excess of young men, but that is no longer the case. Poorly educated young men with limited or no prospects are cannon fodder for those who wish to upend our democratic constitutional republic.
Trump is definitely more of a caudillo than a führer. Just one minor correction: Earl Long was Huey’s brother.
Lind misses the fact, pointed out by Michael Hudson, that populist authoritarian rulers often arose in pre-Greco-Roman times in response to exploitation by local oligarchies. They used raw power to cancel debts and redistribute land after too many farmers had been reduced to debt servitude. The popular response to exploitation is similar today but new populist rulers usually lack the power to do very much because of the international trade and financial constraints backed by US power.