Caitlyn Johnstone is not the arbiter of what is or is not populism

submitted by ceck from self.USPolitics

Caitlyn Johnstone is apparently very popular and financially supported by her many fans. I fear that fame has gone to her head, because she wrote:

The oligarchs and empire managers who pull the strings of the US government not only control both parties, they control both of the major factions which purport to fight the mainstream establishment in those parties. It's a redundant security measure designed to protect the globe-spanning power structure which depends on keeping everyone marching in accord with its interests. They control the opposition, and they control the opposition to the controlled opposition.

Both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party are designed to take power away from the people and feed it to the empire. Every attempt to draw you into supporting them is designed to disempower you, even when it flies the flag of "populism" and claims to oppose the same interests you oppose. Anyone who tells you otherwise is trying to turn you into a tool of the powerful.

And who elected Caitlyn Johnstone the arbiter of who is allowed to fly the flag of "populism"? Her many Patreon supporters?

Look again at what she wrote:

They control the opposition, and they control the opposition to the controlled opposition.

Does Caitlyn Johnstone claim to be outside of both the controlled opposition, and the opposition to the controlled opposition? How can she prove she is not being controlled without her knowledge?

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[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

And who elected Caitlyn Johnstone the arbiter of who is allowed to fly the flag of "populism"?

She didn't, she (quite justifiably) accused both parties of practicing faux-populism

[–]ceck[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Caitlyn Johnstone looks like a faux-populist to me. How can she prove that she's a genuine populist? How can she prove that her vision of populism is the right one? What makes her more trustworthy than any other aspiring demagogue?

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Ok, well I'll make sure nobody ever criticizes anyone else ever again, because we can't ever be certain they really hold the high ground

[–]ceck[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

To develop the idea a bit further, Johnstone wrote:

This is a perfect illustration of what right wing "populism" looks like in the 2020s: phony, manipulative talking points geared toward convincing war-weary red staters who lost loved ones in Iraq and Afghanistan to keep supporting war and militarism, but anti-wokely.

She also headlined her screed as "Right-Wing Populism is Fake and Stupid." That is to say, she wants to imply that Left-Wing Populism can be okay, provided it is the sort of left-wing activity of which Caitlyn Johnstone approves.

https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/right-wing-populism-is-fake-and-stupid