Populism Does not Work in a Republic

Submitted by M Tovey (United States), Dec 11, 2019 at 13:53

President Trump did not win because of the populist vote; he won the electoral college vote. Was there a populist sentiment behind that success; to be sure; but more than that. There were others who did not necessarily like Donald J from a personal perspective, but in spite of the personal opinions.

Since the 2016 election, there has been much ado in trying to either take back that political fiasco that the democrats bumbled or seek the silver bullet that would call that election inviolate, therefore prompting a overwhelming outrage of consolidated hatred towards the man all Trump-haters would rather be eliminated from the competition. Is that anti-populism?

There is plenty of evidence that unless there is a break in the way populist ideals are being presented in America, the leftist sentiments are on a Don Quixote mission to topple the power of 'we the people,' something that even the most ardent of the Stalinist secularistic progressives are yet to understand in America.

This is because the American republic, unlike the Roman republic, was not started on an humanistic values system, but one that sought to give beleaguered humanity a place for the expression of hope for freedom, something the progressive ideology does not seem to care about in the charge for power.

The windmills of the twenty-twenty files of dreams are prone to be overwhelmed; but beware the storms that are invoked to challenge those who still have hope that all things will work out for the best. Unless the progressive ideology finally realizes their futility, they will never stop. 'We the people' should remember that and not count upon the populist environment, always fickle, to be strong enough to carry the day.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".