True Populism Isn’t Trump, It’s The Fight For $15
Since the election, media outlets have been using “populism” as a kind of catch-all. It’s the thing to call President-elect Donald Trump’s policies when they’re so unclear that they’re hard to describe. It’s a call to action among the much-discussed white working class. It’s even, at times, a kind euphemism for white nationalism.
And it’s true, I’d argue, that 2016 did demonstrate a voting class who wanted populist ideas from both sides.
But actual populism—that is, the political doctrine that represents the interests and desires of the populace—is hardly the purview of people like Steve Bannon or rumored Labor Secretary pick, Carl’s Jr. CEO and notorious trickle-down peddler Andrew Puzder. These men (and the PEOTUS and Mitt Romney and anyone else who’s taken a meeting about a Cabinet appointment in the last two weeks) have a worldview that could not be further from the nature of populism, which offers a cold side-eye to elitism and cronyism.
Which doesn’t mean it’s inaccurate to say that the 2016 election cycle demonstrated a collective shift toward populism. It does mean, though, that if you’re looking for populism and the public’s demand for a government and laws that truly benefit and represent their common interests, you’ve got to look down the ballot.
In four states this fall—Arizona, Colorado, Maine, and Washington—voters elected to substantially raise the minimum wage. Maine’s Question 4 will also gradually eliminate the subminimum or tipped wage. In Washington, I-1433 included a provision for mandatory paid sick days.
That is populism.
Increasing the minimum wage has demonstrable, clear benefits for workers—and, as a result, for their communities. A new study from the National Employment Law Project found that since the Fight for $15 launched in 2012 (four years ago this week), an estimated 19 million workers have gotten raises to the tune of $62 billion.
That’s $62 billion that goes back into local economies. $62 billion that workers can spend on food, clothing, fixing their car, paying off debt, and maybe even buying something extra for themselves.
Despite claims from Puzder and his ilk that raising wages has forced fast food chains to automate to cut costs, there is little evidence. Former McDonald’s head Ed Rensi might try to fault the Fight for $15 for the chain’s recent move toward increased kiosk services, but the current CEO, Steve Easterbrook, admits that’s not the case.
“The cost of installing kiosks is between $50,000 and $60,000 and the company is willing to help with money or financing, McDonald’s executives said,” reports Fortune. “Eastbrook has said that equipment is not expected to reduce the number of workers in restaurants, since traditional order takers would be redeployed to help customers learn to operate kiosks and to deliver food to tables.”
If anything, paying workers a little bit more has helped businesses; Wal-Mart, Starbucks, the Gap, and Target have all voluntarily raised wages, citing the need to retain talent, lower turnover, and create a working environment that’s more productive.
Of course, opponents will say that raising wages simply shifts the burden from the worker to the business which, necessarily, will shift the burden back to the customer. However, we’ve seen that’s not the case; earnings reports demonstrate that it actually hasn’t been that hard for these companies to absorb the increased cost of labor.
Meanwhile, poverty wages have shifted the burden off of corporations and onto the general population; low wages produce a noted dragging effect which ripples throughout the economy.
The moral of the story? Workers cannot and do not want to shoulder the weight of low wages any longer and they have let their elected officials and bosses know it, both at the ballot and in the streets.
It’s become clear that Donald Trump has no interest in “draining the swamp.” And his rumored selection of CEOs and bankers who have so loudly railed against inclusive policies like an increase to the minimum wage should make it clear that he is not the populist hero so many voters might have thought they were electing.
But perhaps it’s possible that voters don’t need to look to the President for policies that will benefit them collectively. After all, Barack Obama never did fulfill his early promise to bring the minimum wage to $10.10—but the majority of American states now have a minimum wage that is higher than $7.25.
As the fight for higher wages heats up in more cities and states every day—Baltimore, Boston, Connecticut, Nevada—it’s likely that the minimum wage is making its way to a ballot near you in the next year or two. And, if the last four years are any indication, it’s likely that they’ll win.
Because as much as Trump’s brand of “populism” may be getting the bulk of the attention, it’s the real policies which benefit workers that are actually winning.
