I Watched a Populist Leader Rise in My Country. That’s Why I’m Genuinely Worried for America.
Advice from a Hungarian author and director of research on human rights who has seen how populists operate. It’s important that we understand what we’re dealing with, especially since our media has been mostly failing us in this regard.
The more I read, the more I think it would be a big mistake to trust DT for even a second.
A first vital lesson from my Hungarian experience: Do not be distracted by a delusion of impending normalization. Do not ascribe a rectifying force to statutes, logic, necessities or fiascoes. Remember the frequently reset and always failed illusions attached to an eventual normalization of Vladimir Putin, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Orban. […]
Populists govern by swapping issues, as opposed to resolving them. Purposeful randomness, constant ambush, relentless slaloming and red herrings dropped all around are the new normal. Their favorite means of communication is provoking conflict. They do not mind being hated. Their two basic postures of “defending” and “triumphing” are impossible to perform without picking enemies. […]
Please do not forget that populists can turn into peaceniks or imperialists at any moment, depending on what they think could yield good spin that boosts their support. Remember how Putin and Erdogan had switched, within months this year, from warring to fraternity. Or how Orban in opposition had blasted any compromises with Russia, only to become Putin’s best friend upon his election. […]
More: I watched a populist leader rise in my country. That’s why I’m genuinely worried for America.