Beware of the Populist
This is not popularity it is populism, and they are as different as good and evil. Populism dates back to Rome, the Populares Party has been considered the origin of both socialism and Populism, the populares, “People’s Party.” Populism is often considered a major factor in the downfall of the great Roman Empire and should be considered one of the most destructive forces in politics. The Populist Party in the US, originally the People’s Party was established in 1891 and in 1896, the Populists gained control of the Democratic Party in turn became part of the Progressive Movement, Fabian Socialism. What makes populism different from popularity seems to be the exploitation of economic and social interests. We now have what can be called a Populist Revolt in Egypt, as of now we see many colors being added but no one knows the final hue, it is only speculation. From this we can certainly see how infectious Populism is and how it spreads. This goes beyond a pure democracy in to more of a “Mob Rule,” or unchecked popular power, this only leads to social instability and was almost never successful throughout history. Populism often leads to abuse, we see politicians play their role as champion of a greater cause, but in reality they are fighting their own personal struggle for power. Nazism had its roots in Populism, as did many other failed democracies.
Thankfully, the framers of our US Constitution placed our form of government to the right of a pure democracy and “Mob Rule.” James Madison said, “Such democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.” This should be the dividing line between left and right, with those on the right supporting the original intent of our Constitution, The Tea Party to Conservatives are and must be anti “Mob Rule” and anti- Populism. Most certainly, those so named Republicans that do not support our Constitution need to be flushed out because everyone needs to be on the same side of the fence on this. Thanks to the culmination of compromise and bipartisanship, our government has grown beyond its original scope, and now unpopular and drastic cuts need to be made. The fundamental argument from the Populist opinion is that liberty and capitalism is wrought with corruption and unscrupulous people. Therefore, government must step in and intervene, often giving the power to unscrupulous politicians and more corruption, a fallacious argument. Lord Acton astutely noted human nature, “Absolutely power corrupts and power corrupts absolutely.” The argument the leftist Populist use is what can be done, it is a crises, and this is apocalyptic thus shifting the argument from should anything be done to close the eyes to the burden of those actions. This shifting of the narrative toward the Populist opinion is so powerful in human nature reason is often dismissed as a conspiracy theory and fear mongering. Those that use this response are nothing more then useful idiots that ignore historical facts, human nature and natural law.
Populism comes in many flavors, at times it may be hard to tell what flavor but it is predominantly one color and that is more government, left. Benito Mussolini used the Ministry of Popular Culture, a version of the politically correct police that release news broadcasts and newspaper stories glorifying the Populism of Mussolini. Lyndon B. Johnson used his sympathy for the 1891 Populist Party to push for The Great Society. The New Deal and the ACLU were often described as Populist. The French Revolution was a Populist Revolt and Marx studied the history of the French Revolution resulting in the use of Populism in Marxism. Populism unlike class warfare attempts to take a broader swath of “The People” against “The Privileged” and both as shown throughout history to be involved with some sort of demagoguery, scapegoating, and conspiracism. We hear it all the time from the left, blame Bush, well the Republicans did, the Tea Party is a bunch of racists and so on, but this is not to say the left are all the same as Mussolini yet they seem to live in the same house. The People’s Republic of China, here we are again with a “People’s” Party in their Great Leap Forward used the Populism of productive force determinism, the Populism of a Communist utopia and more than 20 million people died. Luis Echeverría Álvarez Mexican president used the Populist rhetoric of social change and economic progress and became the first former Mexican president to be placed under arrest on charges of genocide. This is not some easily dismissed conspiracy theory but a fact that Populism wherever it is found thought history is usually bad and the opposite policy of the Tea Party and Conservatives. You may also find the demagoguery from the left accusing the Tea Party as a Populist movement.
There is also the Egalitarian side of Populism, the equality of income and wealth typically associated with Labor or Workers unions. There are well defined lines describing the separation of private sector unions from government sector unions with the government sector having extremes of left and right. There is also a thin line that separates the original intent of unions for worker safety and prosperity, and the exploitation of economic and social interests. Government is a force, they forcefully take your taxes, there is no freedom in this matter either you pay your taxes or go to jail, and they have the power to take what they want. Collective bargaining by the government few is not a right because it takes the rights and freedom of others by force, it is by definition the opposite of a god given right and liberty. Private sector and government sector Labor or Workers unions are very different in this nature and cannot be treated the same. It seems politicians and labor unions are playing their role as champions of a greater cause use Populist rhetoric by calling it a right, this is a lie. The original intent of our framework of government was that our government was only supposed to protect our god given rights and not be the owner and provider of our rights. Clearly, our government has grown beyond its original scope in this, but the Populist rhetoric closed the eyes to the burden of those actions. Government union members are handing over their god given rights to the government in a “Mob Rule” and mob mentality, shifting of the narrative toward the Populist opinion and dismissing natural law and reasoning. This is tyranny when government owns our rights but some passively accept it because of the collective good it provides them. The burden of these actions is the likely corruption of power, as history has shown all too true. The original scope of our government was supposed to prevent this from happening and now we teeter on the extremes causing social and economic instability. We can only walk this thin tightrope for so long because it is natural law that we eventually fall, history has shown there is no safety net in this and our fall will be extreme left or right. The extreme left and right of Labor or Workers unions where they have been corrupted with power is the Social Democratic Labour Party, Bolshevism and the National Socialist Workers Party or Nazism wherein they eliminate all other unions and become a single Party, a pure democracy.
The Populist typically displays the Populist rhetoric of the day, this could be under the guise of any brand and what they are branded must not be that easily dismissed but scrutinized. Often the branding comes from the Populist and this is typically in the form of demagoguery, class warfare, shifting of the narrative, and dismissal of facts, history, natural law and reasoning. Sometimes the branding merits further scrutinizing as in being branded a “flip-flop” as in “flip-flop Mitt Romney.” Typically, the Populist rhetoric is contrary in substantial action, say one thing and do another, or go mushy and compromise. Sometimes the Populist will skew the popularity of an adversary in to Populism to cause confusion and division. The only way to protect our selves from this Populism is to step back for a moment and think about it, do not get caught up in the Populism, engage brain before opening mouth and beware the Populist.