Glenn Beck’s event in Washington, Restoring Honor, has been reported on BBC World. This is the first mentioning of Glenn Beck I have seen on this channel (although he has previously been mentioned on BBC's web page) and I think it is fair to say that this event has given Glenn Beck more attention than any of his other actions or statements. The date of the event was the 47th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s (MLK) “I have a Dream” speech and this has sparked criticism from the left for trying to steal MLK's legacy. Glenn Beck’s intentions with this event was to restore honor in Washington which is seen by most Americans as corrupt and filled with greedy politicians and lobbyist who are destroying the United States of America. According to the surveys from Rasmussen Reports, only the political class has a favorable view of Washington DC.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/mood_of_america/congressional_performance
Reports from the rally estimate that the crowd size was between 200.000 and 500.000 people. That makes this the largest attendance of a US political event since the inauguration of President Barack Obama.
So why is Glenn Beck so popular? What kind of movement is he representing in America?
As a long time fan of Glenn Beck and a guy who have followed his talk shows, US politics and global politics for a long time, I might be able to provide a part of the answer.
In September 2008, the world economy crashed and the Bush administration saved AIG by tax-payer money. Later the Bush administration also purchased privately held subprime loans to save banks in the US banking sector. For many of us who believed in the free market, this was scary since George Bush seemed to understand that capitalism was the basis of US exceptionalism. After the crash the general thesis was the US government had to stimulate the economy and the “government was the only man in town” as Financial Times put it. For a long period it seemed that the mainstream media had lost its trust in capitalism. There where no one promoting less government regulation and a reduction in government spending even though most Western governments had already run up record deficits. In essence it was as if fiscal conservatism and capitalism had no voice in the mainstream from September 2008 to July 2009 where the US congressmen returned to angry voters in their precincts. I remember that I was frustrated that these Keynesian policies were not disputed. When even the Financial Times argued in favor of increased government spending and more regulation in the banking sector, I understood we had a huge problem. And I was not alone.
Many people felt alone in their conservatism and their opposition to the bailouts paid for by the tax-payers. They felt that the bailouts were the anti-thesis to the American idea – that you are judged by your individual character and merit, not by who your parents are or who you know in Washington.
I see the current conservative uprising as a reaction against this conservation or libertarian vacuum. It is of course not only about economic theories. It is also about cultural and politic questions in a broader perspective.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11122587
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/mood_of_america/congressional_performance
Reports from the rally estimate that the crowd size was between 200.000 and 500.000 people. That makes this the largest attendance of a US political event since the inauguration of President Barack Obama.
So why is Glenn Beck so popular? What kind of movement is he representing in America?
As a long time fan of Glenn Beck and a guy who have followed his talk shows, US politics and global politics for a long time, I might be able to provide a part of the answer.
In September 2008, the world economy crashed and the Bush administration saved AIG by tax-payer money. Later the Bush administration also purchased privately held subprime loans to save banks in the US banking sector. For many of us who believed in the free market, this was scary since George Bush seemed to understand that capitalism was the basis of US exceptionalism. After the crash the general thesis was the US government had to stimulate the economy and the “government was the only man in town” as Financial Times put it. For a long period it seemed that the mainstream media had lost its trust in capitalism. There where no one promoting less government regulation and a reduction in government spending even though most Western governments had already run up record deficits. In essence it was as if fiscal conservatism and capitalism had no voice in the mainstream from September 2008 to July 2009 where the US congressmen returned to angry voters in their precincts. I remember that I was frustrated that these Keynesian policies were not disputed. When even the Financial Times argued in favor of increased government spending and more regulation in the banking sector, I understood we had a huge problem. And I was not alone.
Many people felt alone in their conservatism and their opposition to the bailouts paid for by the tax-payers. They felt that the bailouts were the anti-thesis to the American idea – that you are judged by your individual character and merit, not by who your parents are or who you know in Washington.
I see the current conservative uprising as a reaction against this conservation or libertarian vacuum. It is of course not only about economic theories. It is also about cultural and politic questions in a broader perspective.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11122587
