Politico got hold of a memo he wrote, warning a rising populist tide threatens to swamp both parties. His name is Doug Sosnik, and he was a close adviser to President Bill Clinton. The magazine published his memo in full under the title, 'Which Side of the Barricade Are You On?' (Teamsters know where we stand!)
Key points:
- Americans’ alienation from our political system and its leaders has been building for more than a decade.
- Americans are worried about the struggles of the battered middle class, whose real incomes have not improved in more than two decades (Note: actually, wages have declined), the elimination of special deals for the wealthy and big business and the protection of the public’s privacy from what they see as predatory companies and an intrusive federal government.
- There is a pent up desire for dramatic change (check).
- Americans have concluded that the rules aren’t fair and that the system has been rigged to concentrate power and wealth in the hands of a privileged few at the expense of the many (check).
- For the first time in our country’s history, there is more social mobility in Europe than in the United States.
- One in six Americans lived at or below the poverty line last year – almost 50 million people.
Americans’ long-brewing discontent shows clear signs of reaching a boiling point. And when it happens, the country will judge its politicians through a new filter—one that asks, “Which side of the barricade are you on? Is it the side of the out-of-touch political class that clings to the status quo by protecting those at the top and their own political agendas, or is it the side that is fighting for the kind of change that will make the government work for the people—all the people?”Check.
