The current tide of populism
Populism is a slippery word to pin down. It's intended as a term of abuse for a politician you don't agree with, but what does it really mean? After all, if populism simply means proposing policies that the majority of people, particularly on the lower socio-economic rungs of society, approve of, then every successful politician must be a populist. I think that the intended modern meaning is really that populist politicians propose policies that look as though they will benefit the less well-off, but which in fact do little of the sort, and which often benefit the politician and his cronies far more than the "people". There is an unspoken silent adjective of "phony" in front of the word "populism" in most people's minds, and the term has had negative connotations ever since the days of the later Roman Empire. However you define it, though, populism certainly seems to be on the march. I always thought of Juan P...