[whatshisface]

Doesn't every world leader portray their struggle as a fight between their supporters and their enemies? It almost goes without saying that a politician whose supporters just so happened to be the masses and whose opponents just so happened to be the elites would say that there was a struggle between the masses and the elites...

[andrewmutz]

Every politician who gets a non-trivial number of votes is supported by the masses.

The elites vs the masses thing is just a caricature to delegitimize political opponents.

[whatshisface]

Don't forget about historical examples like Boss Tweed, or the present-day examples of the governments of many third-world countries. There is definitely such a thing as having the scales tipped in your favor by a few especially important individuals. Sure, it might be excessive for the radicals on all wings to say that the system is completely corrupt on every level, but it's equally silly to think that both you and the CEO of Time Warner have identical levels of influence on the outcome of the next election.

(I used Tweed as an example because in addition to his "populist" appeals to the poorest of the poor, one of the major components of his scheme to stay in power was his relationships with the businesses he funneled money into.)

[ineedasername]

Not every world leader raises it to the level of "they're not just my enemies, they're evil and inhuman"

[geowwy]

Not every populist does either.

[ineedasername]

Sure, the US populism of the late 1800's / early 1900's was this negative sort of populism, at least not in the main (there's always fringe elements of any group) But most populism movements of the last 100 years seem to be this authoritarian, scapegoating variety. I'd be quite happy with a benign populism that sought to raise the quality of life for the masses, but all I see are engines of fear being used to to aid in gaining power. I don't think we get there when both sides of the left/right divide are stuck in a "they want to destroy us" level of rhetoric.