Left-Wing Populism Defeats Fascism

The word populism has started widely circulating in political discourse and yet depending on who you ask, you will get very different definitions. Even at Milwaukee Beagle we have used the term. So what is populism? Generally speaking, populism has to do with representing the will of the people vs the elites. Some will say populism is an innately anti-democratic ideology of one brash leader representing the ‘pure’ will of the people against corrupt elites. Others will stay with the high-level view that populism divides folks into the people vs corrupt elites but needs to be paired with an additional ideology to give it more depth and substance. This more general definition of populism is the one we will be taking and explains why you can have both right-wing populism and left-wing populism. Right-wing populism tends to paint the ‘corrupt elites’ as cultural/intellectual elites that do not adhere to conservative (in a US context, Christian) values and often add more caveats to what the ‘pure’ people they represent are (i.e. rural, white, male, Christian). It is easy to see how right-wing populism can often lead to full-on fascism. In fact, many media outlets will use the phrase right-wing populist to avoid using the word fascism (not Milwaukee Beagle though). Left-wing populists, on the other hand, take a more class based approach. The elites they are rallying against are the rich (whether they be corporations, big business owners, nouveau-aristocrats capitalizing on inherited blood money, etc...). Some left-wing populists will divide “the people” similarly to right-wing populism, adding caveats to who is included, but we must resist that kind of division. The type of left-wing populism that we support includes the people, ALL working class folks against the rich. 

This all-inclusive strain of left-wing populism is not new and harkens back to the original US ‘populist’ party in the 1890s, ‘The People’s Party.’ It was a multi-racial group made up of unions and farmer cooperatives. They fought for nationalizing the railroad system, democratizing government, stopping political corruption, and redistributing wealth. Needless to say, the elites of the time (including Theodore Roosevelt who wrote that the Populists “should be put up against the wall and shot”) were terrified by this party coming for their hoards of wealth. As is often the case when their interests are threatened, elites ruthlessly dismantled the People’s Party, either by co-opting their message, using political/economic violence, or sowing the seeds of racial division amongst their coalition. Despite being short-lived, the People’s Party demonstrated what left-wing populism can look like, and it in fact laid the groundwork for Eugene V. Debs’ Socialist Party. 

Milwaukee Beagle supports left-wing populists, a modern People’s Party. We want a world where everyone can live full lives and no one hoards wealth. We also believe that left-wing populism is the only effective way to combat right-wing populism and fascism. People are upset with the status quo. Capitalism is failing us and people have every right to be angry. We at Milwaukee Beagle are angry too. Right-wing populists and fascists tell everyone that it is the fault of migrants. It is the fault of ‘coastal-elites’ or ‘gender and sexual deviants.’ They blame folks of color living off the welfare state. Regardless of how factually accurate these claims are (they are not), if there is no contrasting narrative, then fascism will win out. Folks will go towards whichever candidate gives them a place to express their anger.

This explains why roughly 1 in 10 Bernie Sanders voters ended up supporting Trump in the 2016 election. They were looking for the candidate who gave voice to their anger. Status quo moderate Democrats and Republicans could not. Mainstream politicians are part of the problem. It is their unwavering loyalty to corporate elites that got us to this point. It cannot get us out. This is where left-wing populism comes in. We point that anger towards the actual cause of all these issues: the rich. If Bernie Sanders voters can go to Trump, Trump voters can change to Sanders supporters. The working-class and rural Trump supporters just need their righteous anger pointed at the companies, rich businesses, and billionaires who are the true cause of their woes. They need to be listened to and not talked down to. Are there some Trump voters who are unchangeable racists or whose ultra-conservative Christian values will keep them loyal to the Republican party? Yes, absolutely. We know that racial resentment was a key factor in why people voted for Trump. But there are also many who are primarily motivated by a desire for fairness and hope. Trump voters are not a monolith and should not be treated as such. 

Many folks that voted for Trump also voted for Obama for example. How could this be possible? A lot of it has to do with the rhetoric surrounding a campaign and which identities this rhetoric is activating. Trump explicitly activated white identities with his fear-mongering about Latino migrants and Black Lives Matter protests. Defending Whiteness was a central tenet of his campaign. Democrats failed to counter this narrative. So when it came time to vote, many Trump supporters voted for who they believed would defend their interests as white individuals rather than as working class individuals.

Here lies the key to how left-wing populism is the perfect remedy to counter Trump's virulent racism. Imagine if the activated identity for folks was that they were working-class rather than that they were white? After all, folks in the same class often have more shared life experiences with other members of their class regardless of race. The feeling of only being a few missed paychecks away from disaster, of struggling to keep up with rising prices, of having to structure your life around a job that cares nothing for your personal well-being, is a powerful and uniting shared experience by everyone who is not a wealthy elite.  Left-wing populism is the perfect vehicle to activate these identities and unite us around this shared discontent. Simply trying to fact-check fascist’s racism alone does not work; it is next to impossible to combat the torrent of disinformation. We instead must also activate a different identity, present an alternative narrative. A left-wing populism that unites all working class folks against the wealthy is the only way we can beat fascist right-wing populism and make a better world for us all.    

This year, the Democratic Party both nationally and on a state level is facing a choice between embracing left populism or maintaining the status quo. In 2020, Biden won by activating a broad coalition that included left populism and young people. His 2024 strategy, however, left young people, Muslims, immigrants, and working class people behind as he attempted to win by shaving moderate Republicans off Trump's polarizing politics. Harris seems to be trying to pivot away from this failed strategy, picking the left populist choice as VP, Tim Walz. Picking Mark Kelly would have rejected immigrants and picking Josh Shapiro would have rejected Muslims and peace activists. Unfortunately, the Harris campaign still seems hesitant in committing itself fully to left populism and is still favoring moderate Republicans over a broader coalition. We believe people should exert what influence we can to push Democrat leaders to embrace left populist strategy, rather than remaining loyal to elites and attracting Republicans by hurting immigrants and Muslims. The Wisconsin Democratic party is in an even rougher state with Governor Tony Evers rejecting almost every one of his original campaign promises to appease and attract moderate Republicans. We have a long fight ahead of us, here.