The Dangers of Populism

On Friday, 35,000 supporters crammed themselves into a football stadium in Mobile, Alabama, to hear an announcer trumpet the imminent arrival of a plane carrying Donald Trump, Republican presidential candidate and ultimately, potential U.S. president.

When the black, red, and gold Boeing 757 marked TRUMP flew over the stadium, the crowd cheered.

Was it for the man or the plane? It’s hard to say.

The Mystery of Trump

The man is Donald Trump. Lying is second nature to him (“Nothing beats the Bible.”) . He has a reprehensible attitude toward women (“fat pigs”), legal and illegal immigrants, and Barack Obama, whom he accuses of being too soft toward (black) protesters who decry police brutality, because the president himself is black. Trump thinks Obama is a Muslim.

It’s one thing for this kind of comment to come from a pal at the bar. But when this type of guy dreams of being president of the United States, has billions at his disposal and boasts 24 percent support among Republican voters, one needs to start asking questions.

How can hundreds of thousands of citizens of the most advanced country on Earth, many of whom are graduates of prestigious universities, trust this orange-haired snake oil salesman?

Despite appealing to the average American Southerner, one who is discouraged by the still impossible task of stopping illegal Mexican immigration, by political rectitude and by partisan media, these are not the most serious challenges facing the United States in 2015. But they are the issues that arouse the most emotions. Warning! Hot button!

We live in the age of emotion. They say that feeling is more important than analyzing, thinking and reasoning. Feelings are more authentic. You can feel them in the pit of your stomach and deep down in your heart, not in your head. But we need to start thinking again.

Or redesign ballots so they say: “What candidate make you feel the best?”

Catastrophe and the End of the World

For 25 years, I’ve been haranguing family and friends with my apocalyptic predictions about the consequences of growing public disinterest in politics and public life.

When citizens become less and less interested in civic life, it’s no wonder things start going down the tubes. Corruption spreads like wildfire; politics attracts ravenous wolves instead of people who take their country to heart. Because the universe is terrified of the void, extremists and fanatics meddle in the political arena. In short, the strength and quality of the fabric of democracy is slowly being worn away.

And then finally, a populist messiah like Donald Trump arrives, bearing simplistic solutions (a wall between Mexico and the United States), empty slogans (“make America great again”), and enough bling-bling to make himself interesting, such as flying over his supporters in a private jet.

American political scientists are starting to change their minds: Trump could win the Republican nomination. If it isn’t him this time, one day it will be someone else. Someone who will be brasher and more polarizing, richer and more amoral.

In times of crisis and apathy, cynicism and populism become fertile grounds for the seeds of authoritarian democracy.