The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Not Surprisingly, Populism Is Popular

Posted on | February 9, 2020 | 1 Comment

 

My post yesterday about the situation in the Philippines, where President Rodrigo Duterte’s right-wing populist government is cracking down on drug dealers, Communists and other troublemakers, got the attention of Australian blogger Adam Piggott:

Duterte has been in office for roughly the same time as Trump has been president, but we can call Duterte the forgotten man. When he first gained power the western press was all over him, how he was a horrible individual who was guilty of “human rights” abuses, blah blah blah, you know the drill. This went on for some time until suddenly it didn’t. From rather a lot of coverage the news went deathly quiet on the subject of the Philippine’s far-right leader.
The reason for the absence of news is down to how effective his policies have been, particularly as regards law and order. . . .
A couple of months ago I spent a few days on a couple of offshore energy support vessels for work. On both vessels the catering crew were Filipino. . . .
I was speaking to one of the Filipinos in a private conversation when he brought up the subject of his president. He was most fulsome in his praise. Under Duterte the streets are now safe. His kids can happily play on the streets. Business is going well, and particularly without the criminal element extorting money from small family concerns. The man was so enthusiastic that I decided to ask a few other of the Filipino crew what they thought. . . .
To a man they love Duterte. One guy said that in the beginning he didn’t like the president; he had not voted for him and he considered him to be a bad guy. But now he was most enthusiastic in his support. Their quality of life has improved immeasurably under their leader’s policies. . . .

You can read the rest. The populist trend has become an international phenomenon — Trump in the U.S., Boris Johnson in the U.K., Orban in Hungary, Bolsonaro in Brazil, Duterte in the Philippines, etc. — to the consternation of the sponsors of the globalist “progressive” agenda. There is a worldwide elite of billionaires, bureaucrats, academics and journalists committed to the vision of a one-size-fits-all world in which ordinary people are powerless to resist whatever policies are favored by the kind of “influential” people who gather annually at Davos and Aspen.

Just as Trump’s success in America has reduced Democrats to deranged impotence, so also has the rise of populism elsewhere frustrated the ambitions of the elite who, just a few short years ago, believed they had created a New World Order, manipulating public opinion to elect their chosen candidates and implement their preferred policies.




 

Category: Philippines

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One Response to “Not Surprisingly, Populism Is Popular”

  1. Friday Links | 357 Magnum
    February 14th, 2020 @ 11:27 am

    […] The Other McCain – Not Surprisingly, Populism Is Popular […]