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Comment by xchip | Hacker News Reader

Sorry but, who in politics is not a populist?

Good question. They ( the powers that be ) have been waving this flag for the last five years. In the last months they have added the "fascist" scarecrow to the mix, in the hope of deceiving the italian people. Luckily they have miserably failed.

Depends on your definition of "populist". You could take it literally as "one who talks to the people", or in other words: communicating complex policy to the public in such a way that laypeople can make an informed decision. That's what I would expect any politician to do.

However, most people seem to take "populist" to mean "someone who distorts policy questions and advances their own agenda by pandering to people's emotions". I would call such a person a "demagogue" instead.

For me a populist is rather "one who makes attractive but unrealistic political promises" (needless to add "leaving out any related unattractive foreseeable consequences"). In this regard I think there are noticeable distinctions between political parties, where some are more open or straightforward with their electorate about their road-map, and are counting more on factual based political trust than on emotional induced one.

Is this the same meaning as that attached to the word so frequently used as a handy perjorative in Brussels (mostly by unelected officials) for folk elsewhere who prefer to make their own decisions regarding their environment?

Your definition is fine but it's the application of the term to specific instances that concerns me. It's mostly used as a surprisingly effective emotive smear rarely accompanied by an argument + specifics that might actually reveal the predilections of those that utter it.

For example, those who don't promise universal basic income and at the same time to lower the taxes in the country with second highest public debt in Europe.

The Europeans (meaning the government in Brussels). They strongly believe in ignoring election results. Brexit is merely the latest example of that.

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