Before I go any further allow me to summarize what populism means:
According to the dictionary populism is a political approach that strives to appeal to ordinary people who feel that their concerns are disregarded by established elite groups.
The rollout of populism can be good, bad, and even ugly.
At its root, populism is a belief in the power of regular people, and in their right to have control over the government rather than a small group of political insiders, or wealthy elite.
In America we're seeing echoes of a malignant type of populism from the 1930s (think Hitler and the Nazis) with what is going on right now with Trump's MAGA cult. We're witnessing a minority of Americans who are waging cultural wars against the majority that spill into polarized politics.
I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that another driver of populism is fear. Authoritarians use fear like a maestro striking chords of panic that call for salvation... then promising to cure all ills. Cult members take that tactic up another level where violence is the only recourse to rescue and protect its members.
Trump's MAGA movement has turned out to be the biggest threat our democracy has ever faced. Hardcore lunatic lawmakers who shill for Trump and the MAGA movement are cracking the foundations of our freedoms.
The ugly face of this kind of populism is popping up throughout Europe and other parts of the world that are having economic and political challenges like maggots infesting open wounds.
Americans like other democracies of the world are engaged in a battle between truth and lies everywhere they go. Social media spreads misinformation with impunity that always questions reality.
As it stands, there are more reasons why civilizations are engaged in malignant cultural wars, but I'll save them for another post.
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