Must-Read: Ray Dalio et al.: Populism: The Phenomenon

Must-Read: Ray Dalio often climbs to the top of my must-read list. (a) He is very sharp. And (b) he thinks very differently than I do (c) on subjects in which I have considerable expertise. That combination of (a), (b), and (c) means that I learn more from reading him than from reading almost anybody else.

But one—huge—complaint. “Populism” is a phenomenon of the 1880s and 1890s, centered in the American west, and other movements since that have been similar to it. The movement that reaches its first peak in the 1930s is called “Fascism”. If Ray wants to be polite, he should call it “neofascism”. But he should not go any further. He should not destroy the meaning of the word “Populism” because we obsess about being overly polite. Call things by their names: the Fascists called Fascism Fascism because they thought that carried good connotations. That it no longer carries good connotations is an important fact about the world, and not one we should sweep under the rug:

Ray Dalio et al.: Populism: The Phenomenon: “This report is an examination of populism, the phenomenon…

…how it typically germinates, grows, and runs its course. Populism is not well understood because, over the past several decades, it has been infrequent in emerging countries (e.g., Chávez’s Venezuela, Duterte’s Philippines, etc.) and virtually nonexistent in developed countries. It is one of those phenomena that comes along in a big way about once a lifetime—like pandemics, depressions, or wars. The last time that it existed as a major force in the world was in the 1930s, when most countries became populist. Over the last year, it has again emerged as a major force…