“and with an assist from me to be who you’ll be – instead of dreary who you were, well are”

As I sit here typing and lets be honest belting out some show tunes, I find it hard to believe the parallels between Glinda the good witch from Wicked and modern day populist leaders have yet to be drawn, but i’m willing to break ground here so bear with me.

There are many takes on why populism has risen, the big hitters of course being economic discontent, political disillusionment and cultural backlash. I will not and cannot refute those. In the UK I firmly believe we have been shafted day in day out since ’08 and i invite you to prove me wrong. And by we i of course mean students, doctors, nurses, immigrants, the working class, children, mothers and fathers, women, teachers, ethnic minorities, religious groups, northerners, southerners, single people, married people, young adult boys, young adult girls…pretty much everyone except a select few who are usually white, male, middle aged, privately educated, horders of the worlds wealth and waaaaaay off when it comes to understanding or empathising with the rest of us. Unfortunately for us, these are the fellas that are usually running the show (i know it makes me depressed too)

HOWEVER

Just a thought and let me voice it in a safe space- have we maybe tried to turn the governing of our country from long form content to short form and the result has been populism?

like short attention span + politics = populism?

when a government now promises us that our everyday lives will get a little easier, unless we see results in the next 30 seconds is it fair for us to condemn them as shit?

I’m not sure this analogy works but if i go to university (who the fuck can afford that now btw?) i don’t expect to know all there is to know on my chosen subject by the end of week 1 right? i have to acquire the knowledge over the fairly short course of 3 years and by the end i should be able to hold a semi cohesive conversation around the topic if i attended 50% of my lessons. Or maybe a better analogy would be when i start a new job i know im going to get some wiggle room over the first 6-9 months if i have no clue what the fuck im doing (remember- because its new, not because i’m shit at my job). And to give them a little credit, when youre PM its not like you can ring up your boss for advice because ahhh shit you are the boss of arguably the most effectual job in the country. You can’t be seen to be needing a hand (or crying in the toilets)

Populism is short form, that equation expanded with them in power is something like the following:

immigration + bad vibes = stop immigration

It’s so easy to get a result from quick clippy content like that, it satisfies the itch of problem – and here’s a solution. As humans we very much don’t like the gap in-between problem and solution. Just think of the last time you spoke to your dad about a problem at work or with your kid or your landlord or neighbour. I bet your dad came up with a solution in 3 seconds no matter how complex the issue and no matter how shitty the solution. We just don’t like that pesky gap and we especially don’t like to see people we love stuck there, but there is where the beauty lies i’m afraid. As is often the case – the answer comes in waiting for a clearer picture, but when youre constantly being timed in the modern world, you dont have that luxary. The players in the world of populism know this and they play on it. You got a problem? BAM solution. You not got a problem? BAM your problem is you dont have a problem and they have a solution for that too. You dont want to be dreary who you are anyway do you? you want to be MAXX you, enraged you, aggy you, right you. Populism doesn’t want the calm and assured, they want the pissed off and ill informed.

So whats the antidote? take a deep breath…

and another…

one more for good luck…

then tell your dad you love him, thank you for the advice (as thats what it is after all) but you will figure it out on your own then go do that. I don’t care who you support or believe in, just make sure youre doing it because youve long formed it, digested it, sat with it and understood it and YOU have made the decision to support it and believe in it. Dont be told what to believe by an angry man who would understand your life no better than if he were transformed into a flobberworm