Huey's Babies?
If you have a free moment, check out this "Share the Wealth" speech by the late Lousiana politician Huey Long.
Back in the '30s, Huey had an anti-establishment message that should sound familiar to today's Occupiers: 4% of the nation owning 85% of the wealth; 70% of the population unable to pay off its debt. A different set of percentiles, but the same concept as 99%-1%.
Just a reminder: anti-plutocrat populism is hardly new to the political scene.
You'll notice one key difference. Long went about his business with folksy humor and keen focus. Two elements that are missing from today's rage-against-the-machiner's.
For all the attention that the "Occupy" events have reaped, once the cold weather kicks in and enough mayors say enough is enough do you see any individual coming out of this who can have the same potential impact as did Long back in the day?
Is there a 21st Century "Kingfish" out there waiting to be noticed?
Or, speaking of numerology, is that populist Candidate 9-9-9?
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Re: Huey's Babies?
Wow. In some peculiar way, this makes me feel better about our present situation. It's nothing we haven't seen before.
And the Kingfish with his rousing "share the wealth" speeches makes our present POTUS with his timid and humdrum redistributionist blather look like a minnow.
May '10
Re: Huey's Babies?
I suppose you get sips of Huey Long in Craig Becker or Elizabeth Warren. I don't know that we've since seen or ever will see the full package again - I hope.
Then again, if you're trying to link Herman Cain to Huey Long, you're going to have to give me something more. I'm not following you on that point.
Jun '10
Re: Huey's Babies?
Because I suspect Long was mostly populist huckster, and not really a true believer, he seems less dangerous to me than the current crop.
Sep '10
Re: Huey's Babies?
Makes me shiver. Long was a tyrant. Yet the books I used in grade school thirty years after his death were remnants of his free textbook program—books my parish (Caddo) tried to keep from being distributed until they were, shall we say persuaded, to change their minds after Long withheld authorization for a nearby army base. He was a populist and, as a U.S. Senator, a major player in the progressive bloc. From his NYT obit (Sept. 11, 1935):
What he did and what he promised to do are full of political instruction and also of warning. In his own State of Louisiana he showed how it is possible to destroy self-government while maintaining its ostensible and legal form. He made himself an unquestioned dictator. ... In reality, Senator Long set up a Fascist government in Louisiana. It was disguised, but only thinly. There was no outward appearance of a revolution, no march of Black Shirts upon Baton Rouge, but the effectual result was to lodge all the power of the State in the hands of one man. If Fascism ever comes in the United States it will come in something like that way.
Apr '11
Re: Huey's Babies?
Watching that video, I kept closing my eyes, because it was an age of radio. Watching Huey do his schtick, you realize how much, in person, his style reminds of Adolf Hitler's oratory. This stuff went as far as it did as much because most of his constituency was too poor to see him even on the newsreel.
There's no doubt, today's proponents of his ideas suffer from the fact that their flea-bitten masses can be seen 24/7 on every sort of device from 60" flatscreen televisions to handheld smartphones they own themselves. It also explains why this crowd's best apologists wear Armani suits and fly his & hers jetliners to vacation spots only the 1% can afford.
Jun '10
Re: Huey's Babies?
Gen. Victor Ball: ...
Watching Huey do his schtick, you realize how much, in person, his style reminds of Adolf Hitler's oratory.
My thoughts exactly.
Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Castro -- they are all for the little guy, they know the will of the people, they speak for the people. Stalin was a master of this notion by couching his threats and pronouncements as being inevitable and necessary because, after all, the "people" are demanding it. And sure enough Stalin could rent a mob to show he was right -- but that became less and less necessary as Stalin slowly came to be the symbol of the dearest of leaders. People all over the Soviet Union talked among themselves saying: "Oh, if only Stalin knew what was going on here -- he would put an end to it."
Proletariat has come to mean a large collection of suckers and marks.
May '11
Re: Huey's Babies?
From each according to his abilities. To each according to his needs. Sounds familiar. Where else have I heard that...hmmmm?
May '11
Re: Huey's Babies?
Huey Long was unquestionably corrupt, tyrannical in his thirst for power, and opportinistic in his message, but not hypocritical in his populism.That made him dangerous in many ways but there is no evidence that he would have been a mass murderer such as Hitler or Stalin if he were President. And many of his contemporaries believed he would have been President if not for his assasination. The message of populism, looking out for the little guy, will always have appeal. Conservatism is most persuasive when couched in populist themes. Reagan understood this and was able to point out to the "little guy" that government was the problem not the solution. The emotional appeal of populism will always be seductive. Conservatives need to constantly remember that, but for most of the current Republican candidates it sounds like pandering. Maybe not so with Cain.
Jul '10
Re: Huey's Babies?
Against:
It's much harder to control the messaging now. It's also tougher to maintain that charismatic flair the personality cultists dig in the 24/7 spotlight. See: Obama, Barack
Finally, many won't pay attention to anything or anyone long enough to build and sustain such a figure.
For:
Economic inequality is rising, and will probably continue to rise. This creates the necessary social tension for successful populism. The fact that the poor in America are comparatively better off, and that we have a relatively lavish welfare state, actually heightens this tension. It's odd, but we see signs of it all the time. e.g. Everything is accomplished "on the backs of the middle class."
Aside from welfare queens and folks with personal navies, there are plenty of easy targets to demonize: illegal immigrants, Pink Chi-crony-cap-coms, etc. Elites (political, economic, cultural, bureaucratic, intellectual, media) insistence on talking around, rather than about, these things builds up the pressure.
So, I think the answer is: more likely than not.
Edited on Oct 12, 2011 at 6:02pmMar '11
Re: Huey's Babies?
Not what they think we want to hear, but what we need to hear. Which of the current field has what it takes? The unbearable truth is,well,unbearable. Who won't descend to flattering 'the base'? Which of these candidates can confront the American public with our dire straits, and yet encourage us with optimism?
Ronald Reagan may be too much to hope for: but can we hope for a candidate that has his steel, as well as his confidence? I thought Perry might have the stuff, still do. Whether I agree w/him or not, he seems to have backbone, not just good management. Cain has an attractive confidence, but has no experience of DC. Romney, with all due respect, is polished, perfect, and colorless.