Abstract
American style representative democracies that place a strong emphasis on individual freedom and capital have grown in popularity around the world during the so-called “American century”. Liberal/neoliberal democracy’s future appears hazy (with a chance of thunderstorms or tornadoes). Numerous international observers from all political spheres—activists, commentators, citizens, and academics documented the decline of democratic institutions, civil liberties, and norms alongside the startling rise and unexpected success of authoritarian populism, specifically its cultural and socioeconomic modalities. Trump built on a singular career at the intersections of money, media, and impunity to amass wealth and profit, through monetization of his impeachment trials, flirtations with autocrats (Putin) and White Nationalists, inciting insurrection, and numerous civil and criminal charges, most recently interfering with voters’ rights to illegally remain president. Convincing a lot of the rather naive Americans that the 2020 U.S. Presidential election was taken or “stolen” from the just President and concealing his affluence, promising to remove the corrupt political establishment and its swamp. Trump urges people who are now unable to live the “American dream” to increase their entitlement while making (racialized. feminist. or LGBTQ) scapegoats out of them by using fiery speech., dissident appeals, and plebiscite-style links. In order to achieve this goal of sowing seeds of mistrust, suspicion, and resentment, Trump repeatedly used Twitter (now rebranded “X” by Elon Musk) as a weapon to blame-mock ‘others’ and held campaign rallies during his presidency in order to maximize “entertainment/spectacle” while concealing how he made money from the position. Racial injustice and its script, which includes segregation, economic and educational disparities, and the dehumanization of “others,” continue to draw sharp divisions in American political worldviews. Populism is harmful in democracies everywhere. However, it can be the pharmakon of democracy but we need intensive education to ‘diagnose’ and resist lying politicians and “mind-manipulators.”
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Akande, A., Pinto, J.F., Shapiro, E.R., Akande, T. (2023). I the People, the Rhetoric of a “Would Be/Wanna Be” Goliath (Trump): On Populist Watch. In: Akande, A. (eds) The Perils of Populism. Springer Studies on Populism, Identity Politics and Social Justice. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36343-6_1
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