FOUR: Populism Yesterday and Today

Populism- often described as a political philosophy supporting the rights and power of the people in their struggle against the privileged elite. It can also refer to the movement organized around this philosophy.


Populist- a supporter of the rights and power of the people.


Originally Populism was based on farmers who were shut out of rapid expansion of the United States. (Anti-Monopoly). There was a "Farmer's trust". They shared credit, and seeked support of unions. This was all to go against corporations. The idea was to protect land from Monopoly. People believed that a gradual income tax was a good idea.


A well known "Populist" was William Jennings Bryan. He inspired the Populist "Revolt". William Jennings Bryan was a backer of the monometallic gold standard. This meant including silver for monetary purposes. He felt that protection against inflation was very important. He also believed that this standard was the best way to solve this problem.


Though the definition of William Jennings Bryan, Populism, and Populist is short, I wrote the blog to find the modern day William Jennings Bryan. In class, after discussing the above topics, I asked myself "who is the modern day William Jennings Bryan?" "what is the modern parallel to this?"


Though it could be far-fetched, I am not the first to claim Glenn Beck is some sort of Populist. Beck, a strong libertarian held a "rally" to "restore honor" in America. Beck has pointed out issues about the government. He has suggested that the current government is taking us down the road to “socialism, totalitarianism, beyond your wildest dreams."


The idea of his rally was to honor the troops, unite the American people under the principles of integrity and truth, and make a pledge to restore honor within ourselves and our country. As William Jennings Bryan did, bringing together people against Monopolies, Beck looks to bring people together in a similar aspect.


Glenn Beck will not call himself a Populist. But his actions, and the way he is gathering a large group of people together in this "rally" setting is very similar to the actions of William Jennings Bryan.


 In my opinion, Glenn Beck is the modern day William Jennings Bryan.