THE NEW POPULISM

by Fred R. Harris ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 25, 1973

Former U.S. Senator Fred Harris (D. Okla) -- you might recall he launched a stillborn campaign for his party's presidential nomination last year on a misty Power to the People platform -- here explains New Populist concerns and goals. It will convince only those already converted but Harris' obvious commitment and sincerity is, ah, refreshing (if, after the McGovern debacle, any politician can be so called). The central evil, he contends, is not Capitalism -- he's for it a thousand percent -- but ""concentrated economic power"" (a phrase which appears more times than we cared to count), and the solution, straight from the Brandeisian book, is decentralization -- demonopolization, worker and public ownership, etc. Harris' constant harking back to his origins -- hardscrabble Okie -- becomes wearisome, and too frequently the proposals have a McGovernesque ring (simply remove racial and class barriers in housing and the transportation crisis would be solved because ""The New Populism. . . maintains that we would not need so much transportation if we were allowed to live where we work""). But for those who voted Democratic last year out of idealism, this will have some minimal affective, supportive value.

Pub Date: June 25, 1973

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Saturday Review Press

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1973

Categories: NONFICTION