Populism? Blame it on the elites
After the rise of right wing populist parties in the past Italian elections, a writer of this newspaper pledged for educating Italians about their own history, so that they learn from the past and stop voting for parties with xenophobic and extremist tendencies. However, in my view, Italian history can teach us something more important than the alleged intrinsic malice and fascist tendencies of Europeans. The fall of the Roman republic can show us how democracies fall, and why populism is not a sign that there is something intrinsically wrong with the people, but with the elites who serve them.
The ancient Romans created a republican system that lasted for five hundred years. They referred to it as “Senatus Populesque Romanus” or the Senate and the People of Rome. For them, the existence, stability and continuity of the Republic was based on the contract between the senatorial and plebeian classes. Once this link was broken, the republican system collapsed.
When the Roman legions invaded the Mediterranean, their economy was overrun by foreign products and armies of unpaid slaves from the conquered territories. It was an early example of economic globalization. The usage of these slaves bankrupted the local small and medium farmers, whose lands were bought by the increasingly rich patricians that used them. Social mobility disappeared while inequality and the people’s resentment towards their elites increased. In the meantime, the political and legal system was being used to hold back any change that could play against the interests of the political class, while corruption skyrocketed.
The resentment broke the trust that held the Senate and the people together. The Roman people felt like the institutions that they had built and fought for during centuries were used by the elites to enrich themselves at their expense. This was materialized in the rise of orators and generals who promised a fair distribution of land and rights. These were the “populares”, the ancient equivalent of modern populists.
Thus, populism in Rome didn’t appear as a result of the ignorance of the people, but the inability of the elites to keep the trust in the system, and modern populism stands on the same lack of trust. Globalization in the 21st century is having the same effect on the European middle class that the expansion of Rome had over the small landowners 2500 years ago. Multinational corporations ship their production to other countries and the ones that stay cannot compete against the cheaper products of foreign companies. Capital is increasingly accumulated in the hands of a few while the real salaries of the middle class are stagnated. The decision power of the old democratic national parliaments is being taken away by giant international bureaucratic organizations that lack the democratic control and the people's trust of the old system. The internationalization of capital is breaking the link between the nation and its economic elites. All of this while a constant flux of immigration raises questions about the identity and future of society itself.
Therefore, stating that the rise of populism is just the result of an ignorant and evil part of society is wrong and in a sense, a cowardly excuse. Instead, if we want populism to stop spreading, the elites should recapitulate about the consequences their actions have on the masses. The people must feel like they are part of the system and the only way to do it is to put their interests first. If we don’t, we may follow the path that the romans took, and end up in a totalitarian state ruled by the same populists we tried to stop.
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