How Populism is Trumping Civility
2024 is a special year. As fate would have it, it is the year where the three largest democracies on the planet — India, The United States, and Indonesia — will hold their respective presidential elections. We will focus on the second and third largest democracies for now — The US and Indonesia. Other than the coincidental timing, there is another peculiar commonality between these two elections — there is a strong stench of populism permeating from both.
Are we supposed to be surprised by this? Why has populism crept in to the world’s second and third largest democracies? Surprise is probably too strong of a word — ‘caught off guard’, yes — but the rise of populism may not be something all that surprising given the ever-increasing intensity of wealth inequality. What is surprising is not the rise of populism itself, but the strength and speed in which it is eroding the supposedly basic ideals of decency and civility.
In the United States, Trump has effortlessly dominated the Republican Party primaries. What he has done in the GOP is nothing short of a miracle. Let’s not kid ourselves — the man effectively locked up his party’s nomination — without attending a single primary debate — whilst busy battling dozens of serious criminal charges — and doing so whilst leading the polls at every step of the way. Bravo to the orange-haired real estate billionaire.
I can only posit one explanation to somehow rationalize this political miracle: the strength of the populist movement in America. Behind Trump is certainly a populous collective of voters still hungry for his authenticity, self-grandiosity, and “America First” philosophy. Four years of rule breaking, vulgarity and impulsivity did not seem to dim the fervor of his followers.
Instead of inciting violence and chaos towards the capitol when he lost the 2020 election, he should have simply echoed Schwarzenegger’s iconic line in 1984’s Terminator: “I’ll Be Back”. That would have saved him the burden of all the ‘violence incitement’ lawsuits. And it would have made him sound cool as well, just as Schwarzenegger did. Yes, indeed. Trump is back.
The poignant scent of populism is also present throughout the political airs of Indonesia — the third largest democracy in the world — and it is being reflected through the figure of Prabowo. As a former military general, Prabowo — as with Trump — is not shy on his unapologetically nationalistic agendas.
Not unlike Trump, his past alleged criminalities have not hindered the feverish support of his populist followers. His criminal allegations, however, are more international by nature. The current defense minister of Indonesia was formerly banned from entering the United States after allegations of human rights violations against civilian protestors rallying against President Suharto’s (his former father-in-law) dictatorial regime. His extensive military background has garnered him no shortage of other human rights violation allegations.
Philosophies of internationalism, trade, and globalism are rarely uttered throughout his speeches and debates. Rather: it is security, defense, and national pride that he is continuously campaigning towards. This populist rhetoric seems to be hitting a nerve within the hearts of hundreds of millions of people in the world’s largest archipelago, as the billionaire defense minister is currently annihilating his two opponents in this political battlefield.
The irony here is not lost on me. If one thinks of a populist leader, a military general born from an elite political dynasty would probably not come to mind. A celebrity real estate billionaire with orange hair would not have come to mind either. And yet, here we all are.
The fact that two privileged billionaires — born into wealthy families — with criminally questionable backgrounds can synchronize themselves with the hearts and minds of millions of ‘ordinary average Joes’ is ironic — at best; but concerning — at worst.
For better or worse, it seems that the second and third largest democracies in the world has loosened its grips on the boring-same-old notion of civility; trading it for the more exciting allure of populist rhetoric. I say for better or worse — but it is most likely for the worse.
As stated by Financial Times chief economics commentator Martin Wolf — “Populism is a potent form of democratic politics. Unfortunately, it is also a destructive one…”.