Case for a New Movement

I am weary of reading and hearing the laments from progressives that the Democratic Party is not taking more vigorous action against Trump’s outrageous and illegal policies. There are a couple of major logical defects in such laments.

First, the Democrats, like the Republicans, are greatly influenced by the needs of their billionaire donors. Why should we reasonably expect the Democratic Party to fight vigorously against a Trump administration which is enriching its big donors?

The second is even more significant. Such laments give more power to politics than is warranted. Trump’s return to power is not only tied to this dominance of big money in our politics but also the growth over the last 45 years of the greatest economic inequality the modern world has ever seen. This growth has resulted in the middle class sliding toward poverty and the potential loss of our democracy.

Reforming the Democratic Party is important but we need to keep it in perspective. Looking to any political party alone to handle the massive problems our nation faces is a tragic mistake for us and our nation. Political parties in the past largely responded to social changes rather than leading them. A good example is the civil rights legislation of the ’60’s that overcame decades of political resistance because of the civil rights movement. What’s different today of course is the Republican Party has largely been turned into a vehicle for the whims of a single person and is no longer a real political party.

We need a more powerful force than just politics. Les Leopold has a practical approach in his call for developing a new progressive populist movement. Planning long term for fire prevention may appear crazy at a time when our government is in flames and in need of strong emergency responses. But in fact, it is a prime time to ask ourselves what kind of a country do we want in the future. Planning long term in a crisis is also an act of faith in our immediate efforts to save our democracy.

Our nation was able to unshackle itself from much of the control of the rich in the “Gilded Age” partly through the massive progressive populist movement of the late 19th century. Leopold’s books, “Runaway Inequality” and his new one, “Wall Street’s War on Workers,” explain why this approach makes so much sense for us again.

BOB RUNDLE, Oak Ridge, Tenn.