~ FTVB-P-HTM-TWPAIPUI-MAMIW-OC-D-DER-A-TWPAIECI-ADMO-GR-IW-DLTD ~ From The Very Beginning – Populism – Had Two Meanings – There Was Populism As Its Proponents Understood It – Meaning A Movement In Which – Ordinary Citizens – Demanded – Democratic Economic Reforms – And – There Was Populism As Its Enemies Characterized It – A Dangerous Movement Of – Groundless Resentment – In Which – Demagogues Led The Disreputable

~ TIO – WP-CTA-EP-LO;YMSICOOTMSO-DT ~ The Idea Of – Working People – Coming Together Against – Economic Privilege – Lives On; You Might Say It Constitutes One Of The Main Streams Of – Democratic Tradition

~ A-P-‘ETOD’-HT-PP-SBMBA-‘COE’-RTBT-EAD-P-IR-MPM-A-OOI-MP-IA-AMFAR ~ Anti-Populism – “Elitist Theory Of Democracy” – Holds That – Public Policy – Should Be Made By A – “Consensus Of Elites” – Rather Than By The – Emotional And Deluded – People – It Regards – Mass Protest Movements – As – Outbreaks Of Irrationality – Marginalized People – It Assumes – Are Marginalized For A Reason

~ T-O-O-F-TT-PPC-FQFIRITPA-UINI-W-A-PHOTMTEFORY-D/FC/OE-TAADTA-IOU-ENOCHPHFOMMS ~ The – Obvious – Objective – Fact – That The – Professional Political Class – Fails Quite Frequently Is Regarded In This Philosophy As – Uninteresting If Not Impossible – When Anti-Populists Have Occasion To Mention The Elite Failures Of Recent Years – Deindustrialization / Financial Crisis / Opioid Epidemic – They Almost Always Dismiss Them As – Inevitable Or Unpredictable – Episodes No One Could Have Possibly Have Foreseen Or Managed More Successfully

~ OTSO-EF-TINIPOIATIWP-NIAATDWEKB-ITCIB-ATPOF-O-DTPDMBRI-A-PWCTLET ~ On The Subject Of – Elite Failure – There Is No International Program Of Inquiry As There Is With Populism – No Incentives At All To Discover Why Experts Keep Blundering – If The Choice Is Between – Admitting That Professionals Often Fail – Or – Determining That Popular Democracy Must Be Reined In – Anti-Populists Will Choose The Latter Every Time

~ SPHTP-TF-MAWOSCR-HFOTBEWNTNOOT ~ Something Profound Had Taken Place – The Farmers – Men And Women Of Society’s Commonest Rank – Had Figured Out That Being Exploited Was Not The Natural Order Of Things

~ A-P-ASA-ATFJ-UP ~ Anti-Populism – Always Serves As – A Tool For Justifying – Unaccountable Power

~ TRPWP-WAGP-W-T-OPHCTUTIATWAWNAUTK ~ The Real Problem With Populism – With All Genuine Populisms – Was – That – Ordinary People Had Come To Understand Their Interests All Too Well And Were Now Acting Upon That Knowledge

~ TATC-TPP:YMEBRB-G/E-E-OB-R/A-D-BTTINMGANPA ~ Those Are The Choices – The Punditburo Proclaims: You Must Either Be Ruled By – Gracious / Enlightened – Experts – Or By – Racist / Authoritarian – Dunces – Between Them There Is No Middle Ground And No Possible Alternative

~ ‘P’-WAWUTE-THOSHCATLCTPWTDNB ~ “Populism” – Was A Word Used To Express – The Horror Of Seeing Hierarchies Collapse And The Lowly Clamber To Places Where They Do Not Belong

~ A-P-IAA-TPLIOTW;TCATH-BRTWTTDO-GAJAT-AWTD ~ Anti-Populism – Is Always About – The Powerful Lording It Over The Weak; The Credentialed And The High-Born Reminding The World That The Definitions Of – Goodness And Justice And Truth – Are Whatever They Determine

~ P-INAAW-M-A-PT-HITB ~ Populism – Is Not At All What – Modern – Anti-Populist Theory – Holds It To Be

~ TP-TA-PM-W-ED ~ The Problem – The Anti-Populists Maintained – Was – Excessive Democracy

~ BTSCOI-ATU-SOE-LTTSI:YMNCOOSE-TWMLTPABSWTL ~ Both The – Sunny Credo Of Individualism – And The Ugly – Science Of Eugenics – Led To The Same Imperative: You Must Not Challenge Or Overthrow Society’s Elites – The Weak Must Learn Their Place And Be Satisfied With Their Lot

~ TSTHPFTLFD-TPIITCB-TCOROBOTOS-A-TCOEPEBOTO ~ The System That Has Prevailed For The Last Few Decades – The Public Is Invited To Choose Between – The Candidate Of Resentful Oil Billionaires On The One Side – And – The Candidate Of Enlightened Private-Equity Billionaires On The Other

~ OE-HLTWIT-GD-OE-WNHPTMTGUOOI ~ Orthodox Economics – Had Led The World Into The – Great Depression – Orthodox Economics – Would Never Have Permitted The Measures That Got Us Out Of It

~ A-PWTUBANE-LBAHOTA-PU-TGTA-PI-TLOT-A-BIIAF-BSO-B-I-I-ICTSTSFAA-RTPOTP-BN-A-PDIWBMO-PAST-‘P’-BTPTFTOOT-IWTSBOHA-THBLAR-PRTEOTE ~ Anti-Populism Was Taken Up By A New Elite – Led By A Handful Of Thinkers At – Prestigious Universities – This Group Translated Anti-Populism Into – The Language Of Theory – And – Built It Into A Full-Blown System Of – Big – Intimidating – Ideas – It Continued To Serve The Same Function As Always – Rationalizing The Power Of The Powerful – But Now – Anti-Populism Did Its Work By Means Of – Psychology And Social Theory – “Populism” – Became Their – Pet Term – For – The Opposite Of Themselves – It Was The Same – Bill Of Hysterical Accusations – That Had Been Leveled At Reformers – Populism Represented The Denial Of Their Expertise

~ EWITBT-EAOI-MMOWPWD ~ Everyone Wanted It To Be True – Everyone Agreed On It – Mass Movements Of Working People Were Dangerous

~ TI-‘SA’-ATSO-MPM-AAATRTDTAI-SESS-B-ITOTBCA-ALTC(OH)CA-TAAG-IOTDI-DTDA-‘SA’-CCTDTRO-EH-A ~ To Identify – “Status Anxiety” – As The Source Of – Mass Protest Movements – And Also As The Reason To Dismiss Them As Irrational – Sounded Ever So Scientific – But – It Turned Out To Be Completely Arbitrary – A Label The Critic (Or Historian) Could Affix – To Almost Any Group – In Order To Disparage It – Dismissing Their Discontent As –”Status Anxiety” – Comes Close To Denying The Reality Of – Economic Hardship – Altogether

~ T-P-ITNWGT-MM-TA-BAI-TCSOREE-TSEA:TBOOP/TFOPM/TWOE ~ Today – Populism – Is The Name We Give To – Mass Movements – That Are – Bigoted And Irrational – The Common Sense Of Ruling Elites Everywhere – The Same Eternal Archetype: The Bigotry Of Ordinary People / The Folly Of Protest Movements / The Wisdom Of Elites

~ PAS-BAR-#1SH;PAMEDFSITS-‘P’-NW-A-S/U-P ~ Populism As Style – Became A Runaway #1 Smash Hit; Populism As Multiracial Economic Democracy Faded Slowly Into The Sunset – “Populism” – Now Meaning – A – Sunny / Upbeat – Peopleism

~ TPR-ITAKOHBTCYAPWCDOWAIA-TL-ITIP-TWHCTMN ~ The Pseudopopulist Revolution – It Takes A Kind Of Hallucinatory Bravado To Call Yourself A Populist While Cracking Down On Workers And Ignoring Anti-Trust Laws – If This Is Populism – The Word Has Truly Come To Mean Nothing

~ WTRCMCTR-IAT-GT-O-DS-VBEEEANEA ~ Why The Ruling Class Must Continue To Rule – Is Always The – Great Theme – Of – Democracy Scares – Voiced By Eminent Economist And Newspaper Editor Alike

~ AGPM-HAT-BWPT-ABO-R/R/E-IOT-RC ~ All Genuine Populist Movements – Have Aimed To – Bring Working People Together – Across Barriers Of – Race / Religion / Ethnicity – In Order To – Reform Capitalism

~ WA-HOP-ISBA-LFC-TRA-~ When A – History Of Protest – Is Sponsored By A – Luxury Fashion Company – The Results Are – – Overdetermined

~ TMOA-PITSAE:TLO-II-ADB-I/B/A/H-DIAPBIGSPAV ~ The Message Of Anti-Populism Is The Same As Ever: The Lower Orders – It Insists – Are Driven By – Irrationality / Bigotry / Authoritarianism / Hate – Democracy Is A Problem Because It Gives Such People A Voice

~ P-WAI-RO-A-P-IAAD-IHFHRIN-IVOTCGIB ~ Populism – Was And Is – Relentlessly Optimistic – Anti-Populism – Is All About Despair – Its Hope For Human Redemption Is Nil – It’s Vision Of The Common Good Is Bleak

~ TDF-ED-IHYBAMMO-OP-AAMMO-OP-IT-IHYA-ED ~ The Demand For – Economic Democracy – Is How You Build A Mass Movement Of – Ordinary People – And A Mass Movement Of – Ordinary People – In Turn – Is How You Achieve – Economic Democracy