The American Populist Nightmare

I think it is safe to say that the 2016 Presidential Election has been nothing if not interesting. With Donald Trump and his insane rants bringing in double digit numbers and self-proclaimed socialist Bernie Sanders surging against the supposed shoe-in, Hillary Clinton, we can be sure of one thing: The people are fed up with both major political parties. And in that upset they are, unfortunately, turning to populism.

Populism: 1. the political philosophy of the People's Party. 2. any of various, often anti-establishment and/or anti-intellectual, political movements or philosophies that offer unorthodox solutions or policies and appeal to the common person rather than traditional party or partisan ideologies. 3. grassroots democracy; working class activism; egalitarianism. 4. representation or extolling of the common person, the working class, the underdog, etc.

All of that might sound okay, right? I mean, what's wrong with democracy or the will of the people? Well, for one, democracy has condoned some of the greatest atrocities in human existence. Let us not pretend that because the people vote for it, it is inherently good. The people loved the Nazis. The people supported Slavery. The people backed segregation, anti-sufferage, xenophobia, protectionism, the Bolsheviks...I really could go on and on. And we are always talking about the 'will of the people' in America, as if this is some unanimously pure idea. It's not. It suffers from the same problem as democracy for the same reason. People can be wrong. People can seek to violate the rights of others by use of the government. And, if we can trample liberty in the name of 'the will of the people' we have no right to even pretend we have freedom and might as well light the Constitution on fire. The people are consistently showing their contempt for Foundational Principles every single election cycle.

Populism has been on the rise for a while. I mean that it's been infusing itself into American politics almost since the beginning of our Republic. In recent years, though, the heightened partisan bipolarity in political discourse has shot populism to the top of political issues. Trump's assertion that Mexicans are criminals and taking away good jobs? Populism. Jeb Bush's 'we have to fix education whether or not our fixes actually work'? Populism. Half the GOP candidate's support for Personhood Bills? Populism. Hillary Clinton's assertion that opposing Planned Parenthood is akin to ISIS? Populism (and disgusting). Bernie Sander's class warfare based on the idea that the rich just need to be punished and everything is their fault? Populism.

And here is the problem...none of those positions are factually accurate, helpful, or reasonable. And yet, they drive political discourse. Are average Americans talking about the debt? Not really. Are they talking about encouraging economic growth? Nope. Are they talking about criminal justice reform? Nah. Are they talking about the steam rolling of personal liberty both in the name of national security and protecting 'feelings'? A little, but not much. No, what they are talking about is Trump, Mexicans, abortion, and the 1%. This is what we've devolved to. Who can twist the emotions of the electorate to the point that they will vote for you. Who can get the most tweets and followers.

There is a movie that I'm sure most of you are familiar with called Idiocracy about a man who is in hibernation for like 500 years and wakes up to find that the whole country is stupid and the political system is such that justice is based on a 'battle to the death' scenario. People get their opinions from the Corporations that own everything. The President and his cabinet are idiotic but beloved. It has become a cliche to invoke this movie in comparison to the trajectory of discourse today...but this is a cliche based on reality. My god! We are now a political system where debate questions come from Twitter and Facebook! The media is so entrenched with the political elite they bury stories and promote emotional voting. They stoke the fires of populism on purpose to gain ratings. And Government-sponsored Crony Capitalism (which NO candidate has realistic plans to fix but for Gary Johnson who hasn't even decided to run yet) IS our reality and it continues to get worse. The populist call to 'punish corporations' has the interesting effect of helping them because they pay the politicians to write the legislation.

I completely understand the disgust with the political structure as is. The Republicans and Democrats are woefully out of touch. They have spent so long buying votes, you cannot tell where one begins and the other ends. Republicans are clinging to socially backward ideas. Democrats are clinging to class warfare and identity politics. Neither party seems trustworthy. But there is a better option than populism. Have a sound ideology based on your values. Do the research and be informed about all issues, not just the ones that make you feel feels. Do not compromise those values and do not submit to the government when it does.

Populism is a sickness. It is the sickness that will march us happily right into the Idiocracy. So long as the electorate refuses to take a serious look at the problems in our country and face hard truths and make unpopular decisions, we will continue to overspend, overtax, violate personal rights and property, and just kick the can down the road for someone else to deal with.