Nader attack: your posting

Max Sawicky sawicky at epinet.org
Thu Jan 20 12:29:57 PST 2000



>>> Max Sawicky <sawicky at epinet.org> 01/20/00 10:10AM
The big enchilada of an issue is boozshwah consumerism, and how it has degraded progressive politics and the true populist core of progressivism -- namely, producerism.

&&&&&&&&&&

CB: What is producerism ? Could you reiterate ? CB
>>>>>>>>

You might want to consult the past threads on populism including me and Chip Berlet.

In a nutshell, producerism places the interests of individuals as workers, self-employed, proprietors, entrepreneurs, & farmers as prior to their identities as consumers. It distinguishes between manufacturing and finance, inclining favorably toward the former (in relative terms). It is soft on protectionism when advanced by labor, and soft on nationalism in relation to global corporatist forces. It puts class before race & gender, and living standards before social issues.

The closest embodiment of this ideology is the populist movement of 1870-1900 in the U.S.

That's my definition. I do not claim that each and every attribute listed above is positive. I do claim that the ideology as a totality IS the way progressive struggles will emerge from the 'unaffiliated' public (meaning struggles not concocted by existing interest groups and left organizations).

Berlet has a much different definition.

mbs



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list