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Categories: Corporate Accountability , Economic Fairness, Ethical Government, Jobs and Economy, One Wisconsin Now - The "tOWN Hall"
One Wisconsin Now was proud to help sponsor a Milwaukee stop during David Sirota’s book tour. David Sirota is a nationally syndicated columnist and author of the New York Times best selling, Hostile Takeover. Sirota came to the Schwartz bookstore on Downer last night to discuss the issues addressed in his new book, The Uprising. It is an investigative look at America’s new populist movement. To research for the book, Sirota traveled all across the country interviewing people on the front lines of the movement from both the left and the right.
About 40 people attended Sirota’s presentation Tuesday night. He covered the over arching points from his book regarding this new populist movement. He talked about the broad frustration with our government among regular working people and how it was fostering the movement on all ends of the political spectrum. He pointed to the success of former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee who won in some very conservative states using an economic populist message. He commented that this should be a hopeful sign that regular people across the political spectrum are beginning to understand that they have been locked out of our current system.
The uprising could turn one of two ways depending on how we respond to this specific moment. A progressive populist movement would focus on the economic inequities that average people face today. It would encourage the masses to stand up and reclaim their rightful place from the wealthy and corporate few that control so much. On the other hand, a conservative populist movement would likely focus on cultural issues, dividing on things like race, religion, and region. As Sirota describes, this new populist movement could turn either way, so he encourages progressives to fully engage by focusing on the real issues that matter in the everyday lives of the masses. He also said that progressives should hold policymaker’s feet to the fire regardless of their political party.
David Sirota covered several other related issues at last night’s presentation. To get the full effect on this important topic consider reading The Uprising and then taking action.
