Populism, defined either as an ideology, or a political philosophy, “style”, or a type of discourse, i.e., of sociopolitical thought that compares "the people" against "the elite" (rich against poor), and urges social and political system changes, or a type of political mobilization that is essentially devoid of theory. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social movements. It is defined by the Cambridge dictionary as "political ideas and activities that are intended to represent ordinary people's needs and wishes". It can be understood as any political discourse that appeals to the general mass of the population, to the "people" as such, regardless of class distinctions and political partisanship: "a folksy appeal to the 'average guy' or some allegedly general will". This is in opposition to statism, which holds that a small group of professional politicians know better than the people of a state and should make decisions on behalf of them.
Nevertheless, populist discourse frequently buttresses an authoritarian top-down process of political mobilization in which the leader addresses the masses without the mediation of either parties or institutions. We Americans had no idea of what Populism was, until we elected Barack as our president. Populist politicians are “mediatic” and charismatic; and they talk, and talk… and talk as though the world is coming, soon, to an end. Of course, the more they talk, the more mistakes they make, because they have no idea whether they are coming or going.
Regarding Populism, Chavez and Obama share the same “style”. We can see, for example, the “popular” bus touring of President Obama, compared to a similar action assumed by Hugo Chavez in Venezuela… to make both of them look “popular”.
Chavez has toured his country in buses, trucks, tractors… even in bicycles! Yet, when he gets tire of Populism, he jumps into his $ 50million jet plane, one of the more expensive presidential planes in the world!
Dancing is a very good technique used by these populist politicians, which – apparently – makes them look “nice” and close to the “people” they rule. A very productive way of manipulation.
For some unknown reason, they both like to do some “boxing” while they are at it!
There is something strange about supplying “the people” with cellular phones. There are the “Obama’s Phones” and “Chavez Vergatario”.
If you want to check “Obama’s Phone”, visit the following pages:
http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/barackobama/a/obama_phone_free_cell_phones.htm
Free Gov't Cell Phone | SafeLinkWireless.com
www.safelinkwireless.com
