Forget ”liberal”, populism is even more confusing

[Tero]

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/ ... lism-books

Mounk also describes populists as would-be, sort-of dictators, a label that might apply to Trump and various others. How accurate would it be, however, to depict the vacillating Al Gore, who was sometimes described as a populist in 2000, as some kind of proto-Napoleon? Or the genial Jim Hightower (“America’s #1 Populist”)? Or the poet Carl Sandburg, who wrote The People, Yes in 1936? Or the ineffectual pacifist William Jennings Bryan?

(Snip)
Yet Galston, like Mounk, understands that economic stagnation made Trump possible – that growing inequality and the fraying of the middle class played a huge role. He argues that liberal leaders have been “oblivious” to the sufferings of their fellow Americans and that “this blindness is often tinged with meritocratic snobbery toward those with less education and status”.

[pErvinalia]

I suppose it means being popular amongst the badly educated plebs who are the majority in our societies.

[Tero]

But is it liberal? Conservative?

[pErvinalia]

I'd say conservative, mostly. Most of the plebs are conservative. Some of them used to be socially democratic when we used to have lots of workers. Now that we've outsourced everything no one cares about workers and unions any more. They're too afraid of immigrants and taxes now to care about anything else.

[laklak]

Anything popular sucks. Look at Nickelback.

[Tero]

trump minimum wage: what minimum wage? state issue!

[JimC]

To me, it is completely about the loss of any serious, thought-out ideology (whether left or right) or policies which have a rational goal of improving people's lives, and a reliance on purely following (and sometimes creating) uninformed public opinion to capture the democratic vote. It is the cynical politics of the advertising executive...

[laklak]

Crumps is right. We're doomed.

[cronus]

Crumps is right. We're doomed.

Don't shoot the messenger here again. Has it occurred to anyone that Trump might be a anomaly? A wild card in the deck on the other side to Lincoln who was also a wild card? Don't see anyone in the wings who could be remotely like Trump, or as dangerous. Even Pence would be held back by his early years as a progressive liberal, before the Sith won his heart.

[pErvinalia]

Trump wasn't even a wildcard when Dubya showed us what a truly idiotic president looked liked.

There'll be worse than Trump, I suspect.

[Svartalf]

I suppose it means being popular amongst the badly educated plebs who are the majority in our societies.

To me, 'populis't means appealing to the low instincts and prejudices of the badly educated masses... and the petty self interest of the better off population.

[Svartalf]

To me, it is completely about the loss of any serious, thought-out ideology (whether left or right) or policies which have a rational goal of improving people's lives, and a reliance on purely following (and sometimes creating) uninformed public opinion to capture the democratic vote. It is the cynical politics of the advertising executive...

I'm not sure, both of our French populist parties (Le Pen's National Front and Melenchon's Leftist Front) have pretty well thought out ideologies, even if there's a well established tradition of 'pay attention to what I say and not what I do ', and goalpost moving...

[Tero]

Making sure voters don't think I'm educated, good plan!
https://twitter.com/DearAuntCrabby/stat ... 6714964992