A look at the phenomena of popularism

There seems to be a rise of popularism on the right and the left today in politics be it in the form of the UKIP vote on the right or the occupy movement on the left of a few years ago popular movements and politics are coming to the fore it would seem during this crisis of capitalism. Quite clearly people are feeling alienated from politics and tradition Westminster politics at that and are seaking new ways of channelling that feeling away from the Westminster bubble and on to other plains. Last week on newsnight Russell brand sent off shockwaves on social media declaring "Why vote we know its not going to make any difference" This feeling could be summed up right across the country where people’s attitudes towards voting is incredibly low in parts and actively switched off in others. Many people consider the state to be a protagonist in many ways is it the police and the surveillance state that is fully under way in modern Britain or the way the state has intercepted our lives so deeply many wish to curtail the state. In a brilliant essay Paolo Gerbaudo writes: “… This is a starkly different political response to a major economic crisis than the one that took hold after the 1929 crash. While in the 30s people asked for more State either in the form of totalitarianism or in the social-democracy of the new deal Nowadays many protest movements see the state as part of the problem which for me is positive as the state is very much part of the problem for me too. Popularism is in a way a movement to make shortcuts in the class struggle to get to positions while ignoring other major factors often barriers to where we really want to be but do catch a certain mood out there at the time. Popular movements often are very of their time and cant be used again and again and often have short life spans but right now where people are feeling like there is little alternative on the traditional political front popular ideas in the form of popularism be it on the right or left can fill a gap I’d say. How they will come about and how they will form is not certain but people like Russell Brand on newsnight touched a lot of people I think whilst a bit messy and confused tone I think he was channelling a lot of peoples feelings out there who simply cant get the platform that he can which in itself isn’t something to be over looked either.