General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Biting political analysis of the McCain funeral from Jeet Heer: [View all]PatrickforO
(14,570 posts)Our message, our platform that you outline above IS populist, because it addresses kitchen table issues. Our platform would genuinely make Americans' lives better. In the real sense, not the Trumpian sense, of that word. Because populist is kitchen table. Trump has just perverted it.
Originally in the 19th century, what was known as populism was essentially a monetary argument. The corporate capitalists and bankers wanted to control central banking so they could earn interest off the national debt, while the populists (remember W. J. Bryant's famous "We shall not be crucified on a cross of gold!" speech in 1896?) argued for a pure version of Article I, section 8 of the Constitution, which requires Congress to coin money.
As an economist, I've gone clear out in the weeds with the monetary argument, and I am fond of asking people the question, "If our national debt is money we owe ourselves, then why are we paying it back to 'investors' and bankers with interest?" I mean, we have fiat currency, which means nothing is backing it but the 'full faith and credit' of our government. A dollar is only a dollar because we agree it is.
Some say Kennedy was killed, at least in part, because early in June 1963, he issued Executive Order 11110, which called for the US to issue notes backed with silver to replace Federal Reserve notes. Bankers really hated this because it would adversely affect their profits, and coincidentally, Kennedy was shot down only six months later. Lots of unsolved mystery surrounding that whole chapter.
It's always about money. Everything is about money. That's why we should take a page from Warren's book and expand corporate charters to include the welfare of workers and consumers, as well as the environment as opposed to merely increasing earnings for shareholders.
A good place to start if you want to tackle the real populist issue, which is monetary policy, is 'Web of Debt' by Ellen Brown. Good book, and right on the money, if you'll pardon the pun. North Dakota has public banking, and a bunch of Democrats in my state are touting public banking.
I guess this went out in the weeds a bit, but essentially we seem to be in agreement.