• SCB@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    No I don’t think it is specifically strongmen. Much of the populism in America is focused on the exact opposite.

    Populist demagogues are not necessarily strongmen. Bernie Sanders is hardly an authoritarian, but he is absolutely a populist demagogue.

    Russian and Chinese culture specifically glorifies the “great man” pseudohistorical idea, and their cultures are uniquely slanted toward embracing authoritarianism.

    What’s up with you equating Trump and Sanders

    They’re both populist demagogues, and their commonalities and differences are central to my overall point

    You seem to think I’m making a point based on opinion and what I’m doing is describing cultures as they actually exist.

    My opinion is in my OP, in which I heavily imply that liberal democracy is the only moral form of government.

    • hark@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Ah yes, the US doesn’t glorify the “great man” like the founding fathers (who were a bunch of privileged land and slave owners), among others. The US has its elites and glorifies them just as much.

      You’re going to have to define “populist” because how you’re using it is so broad that it could apply to anyone. You are making a point based on opinion because you think all of Russia and all of China are monocultures. You’re reducing things down by so much as to make them meaningless. You’re also making bold claims like how you think only a single form of government is moral.

      • SCB@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Ask a progressive how they feel about Jefferson.

        Ask a progressive how they feel about Sanders.

        My point becomes clear very quickly.

        As for a populist, I am using the dictionary definition.

        a person, especially a politician, who strives to appeal to ordinary people who feel that their concerns are disregarded by established elite groups.

        This is core to the American zeitgeist and why populists do so well here. Obama coded as a populist in 2008, which is what made his campaign so successful, ultimately, but all of his policy messaging was non-populist. People just heard what they wanted to hear. That’s what makes him so unique in American politics