Say whatever rhetoric you believe to be currently popular at this very moment, with absolutely no coherent or consistent policies, within the framework of ‘all us normal people’ vs ‘those degenerate elites.’
This is actually precisely in line with appealing to latent rhetoric and amplifying and creating conspiracies.
Trump did/does this, the Nazis did this.
Basically all populists say whatever the fuck they want and then their actual policies are almost always in line with whatever helps out them and their immediate friends/allies the most. But these can also turn on a dime.
Instability and erratic decision making are the hallmarks of basically every populist leader in the modern era.
Mostly only in the US does the term ‘populist’ have connotations of actually popularly supported policy positions, as mostly only in the US is ‘Libertarian’ a right wing, pro business ideology instead of a left wing, socialist ideology, and mostly only in the US does communism/socialism mean ‘whenever the government spends money on stuff I don’t want it to.’
You are correct though that populism works best in a very stupid, uneducated, angry population.
… Which is why the Republicans actual ‘masterful political strategy’ of the last 30 or 40 years was:
Make everyone stupid and uneducated by destroying public education, and angry via bombastic fear and hate spread via talk radio, tv news, and more lately the internet.
Mostly only in the US does the term ‘populist’ have connotations of actually popularly supported policy positions
That explains it, that’s the only way I’ve seen it used when referring to modern America. NYT opinion columnists like it because it allows them to paint leftwing policy that is popular because it helps everyone and rightwing policy that is popular because most American have unexamined white supremacist beliefs with the same brush.
You’ve basically defined populism:
Say whatever rhetoric you believe to be currently popular at this very moment, with absolutely no coherent or consistent policies, within the framework of ‘all us normal people’ vs ‘those degenerate elites.’
This is actually precisely in line with appealing to latent rhetoric and amplifying and creating conspiracies.
Trump did/does this, the Nazis did this.
Basically all populists say whatever the fuck they want and then their actual policies are almost always in line with whatever helps out them and their immediate friends/allies the most. But these can also turn on a dime.
Instability and erratic decision making are the hallmarks of basically every populist leader in the modern era.
Mostly only in the US does the term ‘populist’ have connotations of actually popularly supported policy positions, as mostly only in the US is ‘Libertarian’ a right wing, pro business ideology instead of a left wing, socialist ideology, and mostly only in the US does communism/socialism mean ‘whenever the government spends money on stuff I don’t want it to.’
You are correct though that populism works best in a very stupid, uneducated, angry population.
… Which is why the Republicans actual ‘masterful political strategy’ of the last 30 or 40 years was:
Make everyone stupid and uneducated by destroying public education, and angry via bombastic fear and hate spread via talk radio, tv news, and more lately the internet.
That explains it, that’s the only way I’ve seen it used when referring to modern America. NYT opinion columnists like it because it allows them to paint leftwing policy that is popular because it helps everyone and rightwing policy that is popular because most American have unexamined white supremacist beliefs with the same brush.