And Now, the Populist Agenda

As a populist, I believe that:

The rich are too rich; the poor are too poor; the people who set the agenda in this country, on BOTH sides of the "cultural divide" (you know, red states v. blue states and all that nonsense) are two sides of the same, rich, coin; the people who get attention in visual media and mainstream press as representing the "left" in this coutry are usually pushing the agenda of genteel (and usually older money) rich people, in the form of cultural experimentation (gay marriage, etc.), while mostly ignoring the proper concerns of the historical American left (living wages, a voice for labor in the economy); the people in mainstream media on the "right" cynically push these same cultural issues, but from the opposing point of veiw -- on behalf of working class and rural people who share these values, but only as cover to pass their anti-labor legislation and rich-people-friendly tax cuts and other economic agenda items; one of the legitimate functions of government is to help balance society by keeping things fairly equal, and thus provide stability.