One of the perverse effects of the populist hype is that it equates different types of anti-elitist politics

Since far right conspiracies are the most covered in our public discourse, it creates the impression that any critique of our elite is irrational or unreasonable 1/

What is wrong with far right politics is not the criticism of the elite per se, but which elite they target and how. This is where their ideology lies and what we should discuss if we were serious about politics and democracy 2/

Instead, by conflating left and right wing alternatives into "populism", we let our elite of the hook despite their extremely poor record on many counts.

We also demonise often moderate leftwing populist alternatives by equating them with euphemised extreme right wing ones. 3/

And yes, I keep banging on about this, but I'm truly shocked that the term "populism" is still used uncritically in our public discourse...

I understand how much was invested in it, but I think this careless stubbornness is very unhelpful 4/