The populist leader reflects the vices of society

[Soph0571]

[link:https://www.independent.co.uk/news/the-independent-daily-cartoon-a8575981.html|

What would Plato think of Boris & Trump?

We might then also come to share Plato’s hesitation about treating populists as an exception to liberal democratic institutions. The more we talk about “Boris” and “Donald” as outliers, and the more we describe their human affairs, catalogue their vices, enumerate their lies and dissect their gaffes, the less we focus on the structures that have enabled their emergence, even when apparently innocuous individuals occupied their offices. This in turn makes us less able to grasp how it is not about them but, as Plato understood, about a system of rules that becomes a danger to itself when inequality persists.

The populist leader reflects the vices of society. The passions that rule his soul: greed, envy, ambition, desire to accumulate, thirst for power, instant gratification, lust for recognition, the urge to dominate and exploit, are the passions of our society. When politicians fail to confront the inequalities that stalk democracy, Plato’s warning that democracy can degenerate into tyranny will haunt liberal societies over and over again.

[link:https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2019/07/what-would-plato-think-boris-johnson|

Inequality in our systems allowed these populist horrors to get into power. Interesting article, Well worth clicking on the link to read all of it.