All serious politicians are the same, populist politicians are each dangerous in their own way. There are many populists, from left to right, as different from each other as tea and cachaça. But they have something in common, in previous centuries, the Russian narodniks, Getúlio Vargas and Juan Perón, and in this century, Hugo Chávez, Evo Morales, Le Pen, , André Ventura, Trump or . What unites them is not an ideology, but an opportunistic formula for manipulating the masses to reach and stay in power.
The strategy involves digging a gap between the corrupt elites and the untainted people, presenting themselves as the only faithful dignitaries, representatives of voters and the popular interest. In this cleavage, they exacerbate the weaknesses in the system, undermining trust in institutions, and present easy and quick solutions to complex problems. Populists lie, shamelessly, with all the teeth they have in their mouths, they exploit real emotions and resentments, they spread hatred and they invent scapegoats for evils that are often only imaginary.
Since coming to power and managing to return again for a second term, he has embodied the despicable populist manual like no other. Added to the classic maneuvers of popular indoctrination are indecent bestiality, demented narcissism and profound ignorance. The result is in sight: for the first time in 50 years, the world is plunged into chaos with unpredictable geopolitical and economic repercussions.
From the Absurdistan that transformed the White House to the Armageddon with which, it was an instant. It seems too bad to be true, but here we are.
Trump’s entire story, which culminated in this absolute disaster, with no way out in sight, shows how the danger of electing a populist cannot be underestimated (as we have seen so many times in Brazil and Portugal): sooner or later, his wickedness and/or incompetence comes to light. The problem is that, when this becomes clear, the damage, often irreversible, is already done.
The best definition of the phenomenon heard. He says that populism is “the autoimmune disease of democracies”. It is the body’s defense mechanisms that turn against itself, threatening its existence. Like lupus or multiple sclerosis, the body mistakes parts of itself for enemies and starts attacking them. In trying to respond to the people’s legitimate frustrations, pathology produces a movement from within, which uses its vital instruments, and which attacks the institutions and intermediaries that make this democracy functional: the free press, the judicial system, academia and science, the parties and the opposition.
Caught by surprise by the effrontery of the attackers who were supposed to protect them, the organism’s benign cells are left powerless, at the mercy of the threat of the disease.
Trump and Bolsonaro made it very clear that the biggest risk of the populist politician who manages to come to power is the way he tries to destroy the common ground — the healthy cores of societies. Recovering them takes years. And, in the worst case, it can even be fatal.
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