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William Seger

(11,944 posts)

13. It's a pet peeve of mine, but "right-wing populist" is an oxymoron

Tue Oct 14, 2025, 03:57 PM

Oct 14

... at least, by the historic meaning of those terms. A "populist" is (or was) someone who sees politics as a struggle between the common people (the populace) and the elites (the rich and powerful) and promotes the best interests of the populace. A "right-winger" was originally the label given to Frenchmen after the French Revolution who wanted to continue with a monarchy and its privileged class — they just wanted a different king — rather than a democracy.

On the other hand, a right-wing demagogue will typically try to gather political support from the populace by appealing to their fears, prejudices, and resentments, promising to make everything better by returning to an imaginary previous glory, typically including retribution for a scapegoat ethnic group that it claims is harming society, but in reality, they support a stratified a society with an authoritarian leader who supports an oligarchy class. They are overwhelmingly "reactionary" (knee-jerk anti-liberal) which isn't really the same thing as "conservative."

My problem with calling these demagogues populists means we don't have a good word for the original meaning.

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Highlight:

Mia Farrow's reposts David Brooks' on Bluesky [View all] red dog 1 Oct 14 OP

David. The problem is... lame54 Oct 14 #1

Only foolish people tuned him out 'years ago.' He (as do many) changes and grows. elleng Oct 14 #3

He helped create this but... lame54 Oct 14 #4

Did you click on the link and read the Atlantic article? red dog 1 Oct 14 #6

Compassionate Conservatism is infinitely more paltable than MAGA. DemocratSinceBirth Oct 14 #21

Not only has he mellowed some, but the key is that intelligent thoughtful people can make us think. Bernardo de La Paz Oct 14 #5

Thanks elleng Oct 14 #8

The problem is that people don't read anymore, unless it is in a meme. Bev54 Oct 14 #17

But WE read. WE are reading it. Some among us attack us for reading it and thinking about it. How dare we! . . . . nt Bernardo de La Paz Oct 14 #19

Thanks, Bernardo Hekate Oct 14 #31

And aren't the Marcos back? nycbos Oct 14 #2

Isn't tRump back? Bernardo de La Paz Oct 14 #7

Yes, they are. The current president of the Philippines is the son of Ferdinand Marcos. red dog 1 Oct 14 #9

I've been to the Philippines. My partner is from there. I was there for Christmas. DemocratSinceBirth Oct 14 #23

Ugh...sweet f-ing lisa marie... maspaha Oct 14 #10

Mia Farrow self-owns. (Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. is the current President of the Philippines) Celerity Oct 14 #11

That doesn't invalidate Brooks' (Farrow's) point. There are two phases. Bernardo de La Paz Oct 14 #15

It was a poor, poor example. nt Celerity Oct 14 #25

"Don't throw out the baby with the bath water" red dog 1 Oct 15 #38

Brooks has a "no atheist in a foxhole" epiphany and runs Gaugamela Oct 14 #12

It's a pet peeve of mine, but "right-wing populist" is an oxymoron William Seger Oct 14 #13

IIRC, populist movements are inherently neither left nor right. They take on the coloration of their current leaders. Hekate Oct 14 #30

I can agree with that, but I don't call them populists unless they actually oppose the oligarchs William Seger Oct 14 #34

Populists and Progressives were in alliance at the end of the 19th/beginning of the 20th century Hekate Oct 14 #32

So we need roughly 2 million people to protest for 3 days. Then if we take back the power we need chowder66 Oct 14 #14

The Philippines had about 42 million people in 1980, versus 342 million Americans in 2025 Hekate Oct 14 #33

It was mostly held in metro Manila. chowder66 Oct 14 #35

Possibly I need to clarify. In order to reach a proportionate number of people, America needs a lot more than 2million Hekate Oct 14 #36

The "IRC", the Interconnected Resistance Coalition. I like it. I'll sign up! We'll do coordinated boycotts, general Exp Oct 14 #16

The enemy of my enemy is my friend 2na fisherman Oct 14 #18

+1 red dog 1 Oct 15 #37

Yup. Joinfortmill Oct 14 #20

Republicans need to be barred from Independence Day celebrations until they renounce trumpism. SleeplessinSoCal Oct 14 #22

David Brooks, way late as usual. Paladin Oct 14 #24

I agree Skittles Oct 14 #27

I loves me some Mia Skittles Oct 14 #26

A lot of you won't want to hear this. So saddle up. Justice Brandeis Oct 14 #28

Here's the meat of it, and he is not wrong... Hekate Oct 14 #29