Sunday, April 09, 2006

LP Members Tend to be Populists

LP members tend to be populists and, in my view, populism is a psychological condition. A populist tends to believe:
1. that his ideas are true and popular; the vast, vast majority of the people have his ideas written into their DNA
2. that society is not in the form it should be, against the will of the vast, vast majority of the people, due to a small but powerful minority who hold society in an out-of-kilter position. This constitutes a "conspiracy".
3. that the presentation of the true ideas at the right time will awaken the sleeping masses and cause a sudden uprising which will overthrow the small but powerful minority
4. that the revolution will result in a new type of society, one in keeping with people's DNA and the natural order, one in which the people never disagree with each other, one in which there is unanimity as to what the social order should be
5. democracy is unnecessary because it is a way of dealing with disagreement, and since there will be no disagreement in the society of the future, there will be no need for democracy
6. any belief in gradual change represents a betrayal of the truth and of the masses and is an act of cowardice in the face of the small but powerful minority. And besides, why have gradual change when you can have revolution?