Thread Of What Is Populism & (Why) Is It Bad?

maybe so but i would argue that the inchoate resentments it harnesses are often based on very blurred perceptions of real problems

like if you resent them elites for undemocratically dictating to you, you're not entirely wrong

there are some higher-level thoughts but at a low level it's "tell people what they want to hear and then give them what they want"

it's like asking a thousand people with broken-down cars on the side of the road what they want

some are going to say "give me a new car"
some are going to blame the roads for screwing up their car
some will want their car taken to the cheapest mechanic possible
some will have a specific mechanic they will ask their car be towed to

almost no one will say "I want a light rail line that goes from my work to my home" because they don't realize a thousand people are having the exact same problem, live in the same area, and work in the same area. the real problem is that there's not reliable transportation from point A to B, not the road per se

but yes, that's a best case scenario, and in all likelihood i'm saddled with a government who thinks a light rail line between two points is the solution to most problems, the rail company lobbyist is one candidate's former employee, capital for the rail lines is a line-item on the state budget whether they're even a good solution anymore, etc

It's a pejorative term. I can't think of any politician describing themselves as a populist

If you don't like a successful politician then they're a populist. If you do like them then they're listening to people's concerns and fighting for what's really important

in the same sense that "liberal" is a pejorative term i suppose

think beppe grillo once referred to himself as a populist, cuz italian politicians love to troll like no other

but it's a term that's also seen some kind of rehabilitation in some of the left-wing movements that are interested in a more flattened if not exactly direct democracy and links to grass roots activism etc, e.g. podemos, syriza, maybe even momentum i dunno