In Poland, a window on what happens when populists come to power

[Starry Messenger]

Sorry, I'm in a grim mood today, and this article didn't make it any better.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/in-poland-a-window-on-what-happens-when-populists-come-to-power/2016/12/18/083577e8-c203-11e6-92e8-c07f4f671da4_story.html?utm_term=.9003a6d88106

WARSAW — The Law and Justice Party rode to power on a pledge to drain the swamp of Polish politics and roll back the legacy of the previous administration. One year later, its patriotic revolution, the party proclaims, has cleaned house and brought God and country back to Poland.

Opponents, however, see the birth of a neo-Dark Age — one that, as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to move into the White House, is a harbinger of the power of populism to upend a Western society. In merely a year, critics say, the nationalists have transformed Poland into a surreal and insular place — one where state-sponsored conspiracy theories and de facto propaganda distract the public as democracy erodes.

In the land of Law and Justice, anti-intellectualism is king. Polish scientists are aghast at proposed curriculum changes in a new education bill that would downplay evolution theory and climate change and add hours for “patriotic” history lessons. In a Facebook chat, a top equal rights official mused that Polish hotels should not be forced to provide service to black or gay customers. After the official stepped down for unrelated reasons, his successor rejected an international convention to combat violence against women because it appeared to argue against traditional gender roles.

<snip>

Cheered on by religious conservatives, the new government has defunded public assistance for in vitro fertilization treatments. To draft new sexual-education classes in schools, it tapped a contraceptives opponent who argues that condom use increases the risk of cancer in women. The government is proffering a law that critics say could soon be used to limit opposition protests.

<snip>

[shraby]

1. They are describing conservative populism. Not liberal populism. Two different stripes of zebra.

[Starry Messenger]

2. ?

Where did I say otherwise?

[shraby]

6. You didn't, but it wasn't clear and when you say populists

the first thing that comes to mind are liberal ones.

[Warpy]

3. You forgot the operative word in your title

The term is "reactionary populists."

You know, like the fools who voted for Trump.

[Starry Messenger]

4. It's not my title, it's Wapo's title

[Fla Dem]

5. The world is going to hell in a basket of deplorables.

Dark ages here we come.