Dutch election confirms Caucus 99%: Liberals must not say "populist."

A recent essay said liberals must no longer say "liberal," "left," "progressive," or "populist." (http://caucus99percent.com/content/liberals-must-not-say-liberal-left-pr...) As to "populist" specifically, the essay pointed out that, since the Democratic primary (or earlier), neoliberals had been working to associate populism with the racism of pro-Jim Crow Democrats and Dixiecrats.

Those two groups of racist Democrats were for populism because their constituents in the post-bellum South were poor. (Kids, in the old days, before voting machines, Democratic politicians found it easier to represent the interests of their constituents than to rig elections and populism helped the poor--rigged elections, btw, being another thing liberals must no longer mention.) You know, poor, like so many Americans after the triple play of Clinton, Bush and Obama. Only, thanks to Bubba, himself very much a product of the Jim Crow South (http://caucus99percent.com/content/hillary-thy-name), we now have gofundme and similar "privatized welfare" websites, instead of New Deal big government welfare as we knew it before Bubba. (Bubba must not feel the pain of the poor as much as he professed.)

Turns out that, while my observation about "populism" was correct as far as it went, something else had registered on my brain only sub-consciously and peripherally: Neoliberals, bless their hearts, were associating "populist" not only with racism, but also with the "far" right and therefore, by extension, with the entire basket of deplorables of which Her has been guilty. (http://caucus99percent.com/content/hillary-thy-name-ispart-seven seven parts and I had not yet gotten to Her racist 2008 primary or Her "religiously-tinged 2016 primary!) It's as though the universe of political terminology is folding in on itself, like some venomous, anti-human version of origami.

Why am I writing this today? Well, read almost any story about the Dutch elections. Turns out, defeating the "far right" now means people hate populism and love the Common Market, after all. (example: http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/16/europe/netherlands-dutch-results/) And the relatively newly-neoliberal Guardian even adds "anti-Islam." (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/15/pm-mark-rutte-set-to-beat-...) Wow! Only the most evil people want to help the poor! (I always thought that the right does not really want to help the poor. Thank heaven I'm finally getting misunder-educated!)

As an aside, how about that vast neoliberal random coincidence of every corporate publication in the world referring to the political philosophy of Holland's right as "far right populism?" One thing I know for sure is that claiming establishment media collaborate with each other and/or with the plutocratic establishment is only a "conspiracy theory," much like Hillary's claim that the vast right wing conspiracy made up a relationship between Monica and Bubba. So, I really, really need someone to calculate the odds on that happening by sheer chance. (http://caucus99percent.com/content/theory-conspiracy-theory-or-healthy-c... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vast_right-wing_conspiracy; https://www.democracynow.org/2016/12/1/how_the_media_iced_out_bernie)

Another startling and totes random coincidence: Europe and the USA went neoliberal almost simultaneously! What are the odds?

Today, many of the ideas that comprise the core of the Democratic Party's agenda come from work done under From's leadership at the DLC...... In 1998, with First Lady Hillary Clinton, From began a dialogue with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and other world leaders, and the DLC brand – known as The Third Way – became a model for resurgent liberal governments around the globe.[18] In April 1999, he hosted an historic Third Way forum in Washington with President Clinton, Prime Minister Blair, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Prime Ministers Wim Kok of the Netherlands and Massimo D'Alema of Italy.[19]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_From

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But now that you mention it, populist has been reassociated with the far right. Pretty neat how they did this and do it it they did.

"defeating the "far right" now means people hate populism and love the Common Market"

Very insightful. Thanks for highlighting it.

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"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

@dkmich

If I were a "conspiracy theorist," I would say they were more coordination than coincidence. But, I'm way too "pragmatic" to suspect something like that. Means nothing if media on both sides of the Atlantic uses identical wording. Nothing, I tells ya, NOTHING!

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riverlover's picture

What do we call ourselves? American True Left? Pirates? I saw that the Kagans want support from Liberals, so that word has become fuzzy logic.

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Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

@riverlover shed every political identity, that's what I say. Not very "practical" for the establishment but why should I care for them? They care not for me. Hmph, ew. I don't want to become what I loathe but that's how it happens. I just call myself "a voter" now, no particular identity. NPP "No Party Preferred" I voted R, Libertarian, and Green in the last election, whichever came closest to my "issues" up and down the ballot. I have a lot of "issues". lol

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@eyo

Identifying a set of beliefs can be important, especially if you don't belong to a political party. I don't belong to one anymore, either.

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@HenryAWallace thanks, I can't see the benefit identifying with different tribes anymore, includes any political party platform. I already identify with my own beliefs. Took the bumper sticker "Think For Yourself" quite literally when growing up in a fiercely loyal D family. Dropped the D, but activist genes maybe? Something keeps bugging me.

It doesn't take long to "know who I'm talking to" anymore, and for that I am grateful. Perhaps if campaign money was the topic, then I'd feel more tribal about pooling resources. It seems silly now to imagine the unemployed and retired populations somehow funding future survival, TheBern is out, replaced by meaningless churn. I love Bernie's talk but that is practically all it has been, since forever. Talk talk talk, well at least he is speaking for me and not the oligarchs. Thanks goodness for small favors.

Peace & Love

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@eyo

your post says is obviously perfect for you. However,Can't Stop the Signal pointed out something a couple of times on this thread http://caucus99percent.com/content/liberals-must-not-say-liberal-left-pr... If you are trying to start or advance a movement, you need a name.

Misappropriating or sullying every name we choose for ourselves serves at least two purposes. One, it helps disguise that the Democratic Party has two decidedly different factions; and, two, it leaves us without an untainted name. I think Democrats may have thought that they no longer needed to disguise the division as FDR Democrats pass away and/or age into a generation Americans don't tend to respect. However, along came Bernie and sold the New Deal to Millennials, the biggest generation now that Boomers are dwindling. Ha!

I once thought we could not get away with anything with "people" in the name because it sounded too Communist, but I am beginning to believe we might be able to pull it off.

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@riverlover

myself, yet. I'm not sure I want to stick with right and left. That's, at best, a 50% solution and I am adamant that the 90% needs to find ways to come together fast or be forever screwed. It may already be too late, but my gut won't let me accept that. Glutton for punishment, I am.

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