Fixing the System: A History of Populism, Ancient and Modern [Paperback]

The American experiment in self governance was hobbled from the start by two factors, according to Adrian Kuzminski, a research fellow at Hartwick College in New York who has long been involved in third party politics: James Madison's mistrust of direct democracy, and Alexander Hamilton's scheme to create a privately owned banking system on the British model.

The results are apparent today in the out of control Executive which defies popular will as it guts the Bill of Rights and the imploding private financial system that serves elite interests at the expense of the general welfare.

Kuzminski's historical presentation of populism is not simply an academic study that traces democratic theory to its roots in ancient Greece and Aristotle's critique of the first proponent of democracy, Paleas of Chalcedon, it is also a biting criticism of contemporary progressive thought, which wraps itself in the rhetoric of democracy, but is in fact nothing of the sort.

Those who have been beguiled by the the phrase "western democracies", or references to "the spread of democracy" will be sobered by the revelation that the American political system of today is not a democracy at all but a corporate oligarchy that perpetuates itself by means of plebiscites, or periodic elections in the name of democracy that only provide passive popular acquiescence to the chosen policies of an elite. It is for this reason that 70% of the American population can disapprove of preemptive war, and yet look on in dismay as their country lays waste to other nations that have been systematically vilified by orchestrated corporate propaganda.

No system can be called democratic unless citizens are owners of property and have a direct, active involvement in the formation of the policies of their government. Progressives that are associated with the Democratic Party, are not democratic, but are instead socialist insofar as they champion a client relationship between government and the citizenry.

American native political genius created a true democratic plan that became known as Populism in the 19th Century because it devised a means to permit every citizen to be independent owners of property and free of the onerous client relationship with a paternal state.

Kuzminski revisits the issue of monetary reform with a careful examination of the work of the American economist, Edward Kellogg, whose original insights became the basis for "greenback" monetary theory and a public monetary system that would serve the interests of all citizens. It is, after all, the private monetary system we today know as The Federal Reserve that sponsors and promotes the confiscatory system of finance that tends to strip citizens of their wealth and property and turn them into debtors, that is to say, bound clients, servants to the owners of capital.

Kuzminski reminds us that the revolution of the founders is a work in progress, and that Jefferson himself foresaw the means for direct participatory democracy in a scheme he referred to as "ward republics".

The progressive tradition that found its greatest expression in the New Deal of FDR, is fundamentally undemocratic, as traditional conservatives have always complained, because it turns citizens into clients and the state a paternal benefactor. The Populist solution reinforces the individual rights of citizens, allowing them active participation in the formation of policy so that their government is more truly an expression of popular will and not an all powerful dispenser of "benefits".

Under a populist system, the people entitle themselves. A progressive solution is essentially socialist, leading the citizenry deeper into client hood. The populist solution is truly democratic, allowing independent owners of property to retain free agency within a capitalist market system that has made America the light of the world.

Every American should read this book. As Obama proceeds with his program of exhuming the Clinton administration we are reminded that he is not going to fix the system -- only we the people can do that. We're all anxious right now, possibly even downright scared. This book points out that we already have all the tools we need to address even the current crisis, as sson as we re-educate ourselves about the history of populist democracy. Kuzminksi very clearly and simply explains why our system isn't working now. Then he proceeds to outline rational practical prescriptions for how we can make our lives stable and prosperous, and our political participation matter. I would reccommend this book in particular to people my age (born after the 60s) since we received pretty scattered and conflicting education about what our political system actually is. This book answered all the questions I didn't know how to ask.

This analysis is quite a bit different from what I expected, due to my incomplete familiarity with the roots of Populism. I was expecting more emphasis on the American trends in the mid and late 19th century (mid-West farmers cooperatives, the Grange, unionism, "cross of gold," etc.), but author does say at one point that that is well covered already. His purpose is different, and therefore was very illuminating for me. He traces the roots of Populism from the Greeks onward, carefully describing the contributions of each step. Though there is some prescriptive suggestions for the future, most emphasis is on the tradition and how it differs from actual governance. So Jefferson and Vermonters are some of the main players? Interesting.

His analysis seems suitably painstaking, qualified, and comprehensive. Highly recommended.