Buchanan best addresses working-class concerns merely gives lip
service for votes
Pat may not be good executive, but knows how to reach voters
By Ron Bassilian
I have a couple of confessions to make. The first is that I had
the television tuned in to the New Hampshire primary on C-SPAN most
of the weekend, even though I have no clue where I am registered to
vote (my second confession). Maybe it’s a tribute to how bad
daytime TV has become or how insufferably boring staying home can
be. Or maybe it’s because despite my cynicism, I still enjoy
anything that vaguely resembles the ideal of democratic
politics.
My third confession is that even though I could be considered a
raving lefty (more raving than lefty), I have some respect for Pat
Buchanan. Actually, it seems I should be saying Pat Buchanan
Extremist, since I have never heard his name uttered on television
without the word extremist used in the same sentence.
Now, I know I’ll probably get a lot of flak for this, but
frankly, I don’t give a damn, because all the abstract, academic,
pseudo-leftist claptrap about "empowerment" and democracy and
racial and gender issues has, had and will have absolutely no
leverage at all on the real world.
Nor do I want to defend our lovely friend Pat, for reasons I
will state later. Let’s just take an honest look at the guy. I have
heard calls to Buchanan’s demagoguery and debates about whether he
is a protofascist. Why is he a demagogue? Because he appeals to the
emotions of working people? First of all, who else out there even
mentions that there is a problem in trying to make a living in
today’s society?
The first thing I noticed is that Buchanan calls himself an
"angry, unemployed white male." Now, although the gut reaction is
to look at "angry white male," which sets off "racist extremist,"
we’ll hold off that urge.
Rather, we’ll see "angry unemployed." Now that has a different
ring; that might be what most people are hearing, and for God’s
sake, it might have something to do with our own lives! Yes, that’s
right, students, soon we’ll all be right out in the rat race trying
to claw our way out of unemployment -until we realize how so many
people fit that category, and how so many people are infuriated at
their situation that they find something appealing in Buchanan.
The very fact that Buchanan is the only one out there who even
mentions this shows his appeal as a politician. Who else have we
got – there’s Clinton, who is, not even arguably, the most
anti-labor president since World War II. There’s Bob Dole, whose
only admirable trait is his frankness for being a pawn of big
business in screwing the rest of us. And there are the rest of the
Republicans, who don’t even have that.
And then there’s the university discourse. From what I’ve seen
here at UCLA, it seems the way we approach every issue is that
we’re somehow special and intelligent and good because we’re here
in the university, and all the work in this country is done by
munchkins, and every munchkin should have a good shot at getting
into our sacred institution.
It’s the way we approach the affirmative action issue; it’s the
way we look at labor issues; it’s the way we look at everything.
But we’re not alone in pretending there isn’t a serious problem in
the world today. You watch television and there are shiny, happy
people everywhere. You look at the unions and they spout empty
rhetoric. You read the paper and O.J. Simpson is the tragedy of the
century.
Considering most people have given their lives to the companies
they work for and are now getting the boot, is there any wonder why
there’s so much anger out there? If you were some working schlop,
and you realized your worries and cares fell silent on the world,
wouldn’t you turn to anyone who even paid lip service to your
concerns? Is it any wonder why so many militias and right-wing
groups and conspiracy theories are growing?
Yes, I think putting Buchanan in office is ultimately a bad
policy, because I think he is paying lip service. First of all, the
North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Genral
Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT) are not the reason for lost
jobs, simply because if you look at the results of NAFTA, just as
many Mexicans are losing their jobs as Americans. Not to mention
that major companies are laying people off in droves, and the only
way Wall Street responds is by reaching record highs.
I won’t mention the other criticisms of things like his national
sovereignty speech. Instead, I say it isn’t the fact that he
appeals to people’s emotions that makes him dangerous, but that he
does so while trying to hide the real source of the problem.
It is irrational to say that politics must be unemotional. Our
lives are emotional, what happens to us is emotional and when
someone understands how we feel, we find them appealing. But in
that sense, let’s remember that while a demagogue pays lip service
to people’s emotions, the liberal dialogue forgets they exist. And
that is the real scariness of today’s politics – that the majority
of Americans don’t exist.
Last Friday, some radicals put together a rally which voiced the
concerns of the "munchkins" of the world, mentioning issues like
living surrounded by liquor stores; how 40 percent of young blacks
are either in jail, probation or on parole; how oppression is all
around us and how we all need to get ourselves together and fight
for our rights because the will of tyrants is infinite.
The guy next to me made a haughty remark about it being very
entertaining. I find that people so blind as to say things like
this are entertaining. I think anyone who opens her/his eyes a
little will realize that we’re going to see some major upheavals in
the next couple of decades, and rallies like this are only the
beginning; as are Buchanan and militias, among others.
But the outcome is up to us. Either we get our own act together,
organize ourselves and put up our own people -who speak our lives
-to do what is in our interests, or we’ll get more people like
Buchanan who’ll just give more lip service while we continue to get
screwed. Or worse, we’ll get another Adolf Hitler and company.
Oh, and as a last request, I suggest you try and talk to the
"Socialism and Revolution" guys on Bruin Walk. They’ve got
important things to say.
Bassilian is a fourth-year political science and mathematics
student. He can be reached at ronbass@ucla.edu.
Also check out these sites:
Pat Buchanan HQ
An InfoSeek search for Buchanan
Comments to webmaster@db.asucla.ucla.edu