The Democratic Party & the Illusion of Splits in the Ruling Class, was Re: Cockburn: The Coup

[Chris Kromm]

> Historical populism has that small producer cast and a nasty dose of
racism.
> Tom Watkins was a virulent white supremacist. But I think the word has
> acquired a looser tone of being on the side of the little man, Frank
Capra,
> Mr Deeds, etc. I wouldn't use it myself, but I think what what is meant is
> that we should express our class analysis in American tones rather than
> German or Russian ones. --jks

I think that was the spirit of Cockburn's passage. For example,
"dictatorship of the proletariat" is probably never going to make it very
big over here. I think the larger argument is that there is a great deal of
anti-corporate resentment that the left fails to capitalize on, and which
populism could be an opening for discussing. Much of the anti-corp sentiment
is starting from the wrong place (or in combination with bad ideas like
racism, conspiracy theories, and idealized notions of "small producers"),
but the fact is that's where a good chunk of the masses are at, so we should
see that as an opening and work with it -- and hopefully transcend it.

By the way, doesn't Cuba have some of these dreaded "small producers"?

CK