1,776 words
Right-wingers often say they want to create an “elite” revolutionary vanguard.
This would supposedly attract the best and brightest of our society in order to overthrow it. This elite would be smarter, more dedicated, more athletic, and possibly better-looking than the cattle they wish to rule. “We’re attracting quality, not quantity! Elites, not the masses!” is the eternal response to those who doubt this strategy. Read more …
Notes on Populism
Norman Rockwell, Study for “Freedom of Speech”
3,380 words
Populism seeks to rescue popular government from corrupt elites. Naturally, the elites strike back. The most common accusation from elite commentators is that populism is “anti-democratic.” As Yascha Mounk frames it, populism is “the people vs. democracy.” I argue that populism is not anti-democratic, but it is anti-liberal. (See Donald Thoresen’s review of Mounk’s The People vs. Democracy here.)
Many critics of populism accuse it of being a form of white identity politics, Read more …