John O'Sullivan has written an insightful piece in National Review Online in which he analyses the present brouhaha over the "wave of populism" allegedly sweeping Europe. It turns out that the label "populism" is like using a six inch brush to paint a Faberge egg.
Europe has gotten tired of being anguished about Donald Trump and has now moved on to being anguished about itself. The question being asked by all the Big Think editorials and news magazine programs runs: “Is Europe going populist too?” . . .What all these manifestations of "populism" have in common is a desire to change the status quo--but the precise character of the status quo differs somewhat from country to country within Europe. Thus "populism" can look like a multi-headed hydra. The Establishment fears and loathes every one of the heads--and that is about all they have in common.
“Populism” is a scare word meant to delegitimize rebellions against political establishments and mainstream elites. It draws together under the same big, scary tent parties and causes that have a little in common otherwise. There is no “populist” ideology that unites these various dissidents the way Marxist ideology united international socialists for more than a century.
