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Let’s Look At The Whole And Become Every Populist’s Nightmare
Populism has embraced the 21st century. It’s time we do the same.
A hundred years ago, populists used most voters’ lack of access to information to spread lies directed at each group they sought to please. Thus, the so-called Radical Party in Catalonia would tell workers of Spanish origin that they would end abuses of the Catalan bourgeoisie while reassuring the same elite they would appease the ire of said workers. Decades later, the Nazi party used — more effectively — similar tactics, managing to gain the support of communities as diverse as parts of the Catholic clergy, wealthy Bavarian farmers and disgruntled factory workers.
Half a century later, many people would have agreed that broader access to information would help the common folk make the right choices. Those in positions of power in authoritarian states feared such a new order, while those in the resistance dreamed of a world where everybody would see the light and fight for justice. It wasn’t long before both sides could agree that their expectations had been unreasonably high. There had been no reason to be so terrified or hopeful. The Information Age changed everything, except human ambition.
The struggle for power and freedom rages on an upside-down battlefield where the north…