Pseudo-populism in America

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The railing against "big guv" in the US has a long history, but said rhetoric really became attached to Southern politics during Reconstruction. Reconstruction was (and still is, among the neo-Confederate set) portrayed as a conspiracy of carpetbaggers and blacks to usurp the power of the white aristocracy and place the South under the rule of a federal autocracy. The trope of the alien and invasive federal government has long been useful in service of pseudo-populist political campaigns, e.g. George Wallace. This was absorbed into the rhetoric of the new religious right: "The effort to build bridges between secular and religious conservatives was spearheaded by four activists with no background in the Christian Right community: Howard Phillips of the Conservative Caucus; John "Terry" Dolan of the National Conservative Political Action Committee (NCPAC); Paul Weyrich of the National Committee for the Survival of a Free Congress; and Richard Viguerie, a major fund-raiser for conservative causes. The basis for coalition would be a frontal attack on "big government" as a threat to traditional religious and economic values." [1] Note the alma mater of CWA founder Beverly LaHaye.

Nebuchadnezzar (talk)19:21, 28 June 2012

See also: Robert Welch's plan to end big government.

Nebuchadnezzar (talk)00:11, 29 June 2012

Welch is pretty vague there, you have to admit. "Higher taxes", he predicts, yet taxes go up and down so he's basically got a prior chance of being right of 50% for any particular point in the future. The rest goes on in similar fashion. "Increased government spending in wasteful ways"? Well, define "wasteful" and we can speak. The Tea Party would call spending tax dollars on helping sick people "wasteful", so you can spin this around however you like.

It seems to be quite self-fulfilling, though. Ramp up the paranoia, and then any decision that they don't agree with is seen as Socialism and Communism, whether it is or not. We in the rest of the civilised world laugh at the idea that the Affordable Care Act is "socialism"!

But at least this crap has a long history, I was beginning to think the world had just gone fuck crazy in less than 10 years.

Scarlet A.pngd hominem10:03, 29 June 2012

Come on, red-baiting has a long and venerable tradition. It's as American as apple pie. This wouldn't be the grand ol' US of A if you couldn't walk into a crowded theater and shout REDSREDSREDSREDSREDSREDS!!!!!!

Nebuchadnezzar (talk)17:07, 29 June 2012
 

"...so you can spin this around however you like." That's the point. You have to learn to speak in wingnut-ese. "Higher taxes" is pretty self-explanatory -- though sometimes you only need to pretend taxes have gone up. "Wasteful spending" is mostly anything that doesn't go into the military-industrial complex, which means its going to the looters and parasites (e.g., food stamps) or liberal propaganda (e.g., NPR). "Expanding bureaucracy" equals "anything that might cut into my bottom line."

Nebuchadnezzar (talk)20:24, 30 June 2012
 
 
 
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