From Trump's political emergence up through now, we have heard that his political success is the result of populism. And because of how it has been reported, it seems like Trump has a monopoly on populism.
Now there are some concerns with the populism that has benefited Trump. Some of those concerns deal with the ties between that populism with Christian Nationalism. But even graver concerns have been expressed with the ties between that populism with the acceptance of right-wing conspiracy theories such as those expressed on Q-Anon. Stories from there are divisive because they promote the employment of black-white thinking. That is the kind of thinking that enables one to see one's opponents as totally evil and their own as totally good. Furthermore, the demonization that is practiced by these conspiracy theories has spread great distrust in our nation's institutions while at the same time, these conspiracy theories have been used to support a call for a messianic type leader whose only obstacle to success is not possessing absolute power--and some from that group complain about being accused of promoting fascism.
William J. Barber II (click here for a bio) and Liz Theoharis (click here for a bio) have proposed starting up an alternative populism to the one supporting Trump. The one they propose in the Religion News Service article (click here for the article) involves people of all races and revolves around those making the least money. And in proposing this alternative populism to the one supporting Trump, they make an interesting claim. They wrote that the majority of those making less than $50,000 per year were not members of Trump posse. They didn't substantiate that claim, but if it was true, it would be a welcomed relief. That is because Trump's populism seems to feed of of racism and xenophobia that either exists or can be easily sowed in people.
The populism that Barber and Theoharis are proposing will be exhibited in their Poor People's Campaign (click here for its website). Their campaign seems to be based, at least in part, on the Poor People's Campaign orchestrated by Martin Luther King Jr. And Barber and Theoharis want to stress morality in their group. But most of all, they want to be an alternative to the Christian Nationalism based populism that has been opposing abortion, scapegoating 'non-white immirants,' promoting an extreme form of nationalism, and supporting pro-corporate politicians.
Barber and Theoharis note that they will be recruiting from the same groups of people that the pro-Trump Christian Nationalists recruit from, such as from prisons, but Barber's and Theoharis's reach will extend to other groups of lower economic class and poor people as well.
Barber and Theoharis claimed a victory in their article. They claimed that they had helped elect a Democrat to be governor in Kentucky. They considered this a victory because Kentucky is regarded as a red state.
I am hoping that this effort by Barber and Theoharis transcends political involvement, even though political involvement is a necessity in working to make sure the poor receive justice and help. Though I very much hope that their organizing and enlisting of people is successful, what stands in the way of their helping of people is our two-party political system. Though the Dems try not to appear as a party that serves financial elites, in the end, they are such a party. In addition, giving the help that those in the lower economic classes deserve must include the cutting of our military budgets, the passing of regulations that protect the climate and workers, a more fair tax policy that has the wealthy paying more of their fair share of taxes. and securing effective social safety nets for the vulnerable while remaining fiscally responsible. And though all of that sounds like Biden's agenda, the wealthy usually get the breaks they have paid for.
When we consider the history of the Democratic Party and the control that wealthy elites have over it, even though the Democratic Party is not under as much control by those elites as the Republican Party is, it is still under significant control by many of those same elites. And so Barber's and Theoharis's Poor People's Campaign will have a more limited political influence than they might expect to have.
What their Poor People's Campaign really needs to exert a political influence in this nation is for us to have viable 3rd parties with politically attractive candidates. But for as long as the Republican Party continues to go off the rails of sanity by supporting Trump and others like him, those on the left will feel more and more pressure to give their political support for the Democratic Party, which will stop non-conservative third political parties from emerging from obscurity.. And that by itself will limit the political influence that Barber's and Theoharris's Poor People's Campaign will have as honorable as that campaign is.
I am very much hoping for Barber's and Theoharis's Poor People's Campaign to succeed. But the nation needs to change before it can succeed. However, that should not stop people from joining or supporting Barber's and Theoharis's work.
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