Politics in the Age of Populism

3 comments on “Politics in the Age of Populism ”

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1. Sanctuary 1

   7 July 2017 at 7:49 am

   I got a tee shirt in the mail yesterday. It came from Momentum, in the UK. It is red, the colour of martyr’s blood. A white circle, trimmed with red, is on the front chest and in the white circle a red worker’s fist thrusts upwards in triumph, clutching a red rose. Under that, framed by two very Soviet looking stars, it says in white “Jeremy Corbyn”.

   It is pure socialist populism. Socialism – no – HOPE – resurgent, from an unapologetic left again harnessing the great symbols of the class struggle (the red of revolution, stars, the clenched fist of defiant resistance, the artistic flourish of the vigour of the artwork symbolising the youthful idealism for a better future for us all). It is exciting to own that tee shirt. I am part of something magnificent, important and that clenched fist, oh the clenched fist, it says hey, boss class, – BE AFRAID. For we are the many, and you are the few – surely, populism redux.

   That tee shirt sadly symbolises everything the NZ Labour Party is not. The Corbynistas of Momentum shine a cruel light on the NZ Labour party. It’s ideological sterility, elitism, timidity, moribundity, it’s craven managerialism and it’s total capitulation to the radical centrism of trying to defend decayed neoliberalism are all exposed when you think about that bold, youthful, driven tee shirt. I think the NZ Labour Party is no more capable of producing such a teeshirt for it’s followers as I am capable of flying to the moon.
   • Adrian Thornton 1.1

     7 July 2017 at 9:59 am

     Great comment, and analogy Sanctuary.
     I think this is a very tragic period for the NZ Left, as I believe Andrew Little is a honest, sincere politician and leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, I can’t remember his integrity ever really being questioned, and is also a great public orator to boot, however he and Labour cannot, and it is looking likely will not break much above 30%, because they are hobbled by their blind adherence to the centre neoliberal project, yet they have this leader who could potentially save Labour and make it a relevant and needed political force in NZ politics gong forward…which seems all the more bizarre as the neoliberal project is obviously a dying ideology, but I guess when you are a serious ideologue, as many of the staunch centrists in the Labour hierarchy must be, you cannot feel your own ship sinking.

     BTW I made a tee shirt a few years back, on which I printed….
     “Intellectuals Are The Shoe Shine Boys of The Ruling Elite”
     I loved wearing that to the right meetings.

     Turn labour Left!
   • Siobhan 1.2

     7 July 2017 at 10:37 am

     Maybe Labour and Greens could combine forces and design a Tshirt that encompases their inspirational (aspirational?) “budget responsibility rules” .
     Something in Black, kiwis love black.
     Something safe, something for the middle ground, something that signals its business as usual should they gain power.

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