Republican Virtue

and American Populism

When I think of republican virtue I think of independence, education, hard work and accountability. When I think of populism I think of a movement of people who feel left out of the environmental power structure. When I talk to people in my community I find they are independent, educated, hard working and hold themselves accountable, they also feel left out of the environmental power structure. They appear to be looking for something new, someway to hold the people who made this mess accountable.

While talking to strangers and friends at coffee shops, bars, and breweries over the last year I’ve noticed a shift in peoples opinions on politics. Last year people were upset with corruption and money in politics but they would focus on the other teams abuses. Red this, Blue that. This year people seem to want to hold their leaders accountable, what I hear lately is “they both suck”. Last year it was tough discussing politics with people, I would often have to show my colors (red or blue) before someone would engage. This year I’ve gone entire conversations without either of us reveling what team we’re on. The biggest change I see from last year to this year is the reflective nature of which people in the community are discussing politics. Reflective nature combined with independence, education, hard work and accountability is how republican virtue blossoms into a successful populist movement.

American populist movements happen from time to time in our nation. We’ve had populist leaders like Andrew Jackson, Teddy Roosevelt, FDR and Trump. Populist movements are when the people assert their power and demand a leader who will listen to them. Populist leaders understand how to communicate with regular citizens and also leverage their power, Jackson used the post office, Teddy the newspapers, FDR the radio and Trump used twitter. These movements often happen when republican virtue fails, when the citizens become complacent and allow a corrupt or out of touch ruling class to take hold. Populist movements are formed when the people feel powerless, leaders speak to this and offer common sense solutions, but too often common sense solutions expand both federal and executive power. A successful populist movement should return power to the people.

The peoples power lies in the House of Representatives and since 1911 the peoples power has been capped by an elite, out of touch, ruling class. Our nation needs a populist movement that focuses on republican virtue by cultivating leaders in our communities who return power back to the people and allow us to govern ourselves again. America doesn't need another populist President, America needs reflective, hard working leadership at both the local and federal level.