info

[Brad De Long]

>
>The relative prominence of the Rubin dimension is
>due to the noise being generated by the Right, the
>tendency of mainstream media and political forces
>to bury your emphasis in affirmations of the status
>quo, the inherent difficulty of proposing non-
>mainstream, positive alternatives in a setting
>dominated by sound-bites, and the political
>potency of anti-rich rhetoric.  Regarding the
>last, it is fair to say the left is trying to
>exploit populist feeling, and it is possible
>to err in this vein in the direction of
>opportunism, at the expense of substantive
>proposals.

Yup.


>But there's nothing new to such
>a dilemma, and such appeals have always been
>an important ingredient in progressive reforms.
>How would FDR have motivated and defended the
>New Deal without reference to "economic royalists"?
>Even liberal, non-radical politics of the
>successful variety is a contact sport.
>

Yup. I don't mind contact sports. (And, after welfare reform, a Clinton
limb or two left on the playing field would be nice.) I do mind kicking the
ball into the wrong goal...

Brad DeLong