Vox Populi
A curated webspace for Poetry, Politics, and Nature. Over 16,000 daily subscribers. Over 7,000 archived posts.
John Edward Simms: The Populist
The Man was very dissatisfied. The authorities and those who had said they would support him were not interested in his leadership. Instead, they were conspiring to take over the movement without him. This was unacceptable. The Man called a meeting of the loyal members, then arrived to tell them that the new regime was now established, and they were essential to its success. The Man had an inner circle of absolute loyalists who would do anything for him. Those who had opposed him were ejected from the movement. Some were not seen again, some stayed and professed their new understanding of The Man’s clear vision and the necessity for violent elimination of the opposition.
Two thousand followers marched on the Capitol and were confronted by police at a blockade. The confrontation resulted in 16 followers of The Man being killed, along with 4 police officers. The Man, realizing his attempt at a coup d’etat had failed, fled the capital. Two days later, The Man was captured and arrested for treason. His trial lasted 24 days. He was convicted and sentenced to 4 years in prison. He served only 9 months in prison before being released. It was not wasted time. During his incarceration, The Man dictated a book describing his struggle. The book detailed how groups of his fellow citizens – people who had worked their way into positions of power and influence – had corrupted the system. Citizens who were honest and hard working had been abused and no longer had a voice in the decisions that affected their lives and families.
The citizens had become victims of a corrupt elite, The Man said, and that is why they could not succeed in society. The Man explained that the corrupt were parasites who sucked the life out of a strong people. This is wrong, The Man said. We have a great heritage, a legacy of strength and honor. The Parasites have no honor and are individually weak. They do not have the strength of character, The Man argued, to be worthy of leading our nation. They do not have or even understand the loyalty to our heritage that is the mark of a true servant of the people. They are not us. They are the Others.
The year was 1923. The Man’s name was Adolph Hitler.
John Edward Simms is a professor of accounting at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas. He holds two PhDs, one in Accounting and one in Business Ethics.
Copyright 2021 John Edward Simms
Vox Populi 
To equate populism with Nazism is exactly the wrong conclusion to draw from the Trump phenomenon. Like Hitler, Trump was able to play on legitimate grievances, though Trump did even less than Hitler to help people in need and, like Hitler, poisoned and radicalized political discourse.
But other populists–left-wing populists–are the only voices on the national scene urging policies that will actually make a decisive difference in people’s lives. We need a lot more of that brand of populism if we’re going to save the republic.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for the important distinction, John.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow. I will post.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Indeed. I’ve been telling (especially the youn’uns) this tale of caution. And when he came back. many didn’t take ‘this little ridiculous corporal from Austria’ very seriously, especially the intelligentsia, journalists, politicians and anyone who thought they knew… I have recently come to realis that someone must have read him Goebbels’ playbook and he retained the most important parts of it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, my wife Eva-Maria Simms, as you know, is German and has written on this subject as well.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I believe that there was some thought that Hitler stole the election when he was elected as well, which lines up more with the power grab by the deep state globalists and creepy Joe Biden that we are witnessing here.
Big Tech repression of free speech, corporations lining up to ban citizens and ruin them, political propaganda from our elites, the military in om the take, no judiciary to hear our grievance. Fascism is here.
My mother is German also and was 12 years old in 1939 when Hitler invaded the Polish corridor. The Germans owned the land (farms) there but Germany had been split and given to different countries in the Versailles Treaty. Polish communists had beat her father and uncle to death on “bloody Sunday”, because they wanted German farms for themselves. Near Bromberg, many Germans were killed. This helped precipitate Hitler’s invasion.
She is 94 now and sees dark days ahead. These marxists/fascists will move on us fast.
LikeLiked by 1 person