Populism Forward or Backward Looking

The Populist movement represented a viable plan for the future, which although failed as a third-party movement, it made thousands aware of the needs for reform. The abuses of monopolistic capitalism were spreading across the US leaving behind a trail of poverty. The call for an unlimited coinage of silver and gold at a ratio of 16 to 1 would enable farmers to pay their debts more easily as well as put an end to deflation. Furthermore, …

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