The Shameless Boris Johnson- nice read

[malaise]

https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2022/07/the-shameless-boris-johnson/661520/?utm_source=msn

As Applebaum noted in her book, Johnson might be a narcissist, but he is also immensely lazy. In the end, he caved to the pressure to resign. (He still, apparently, plans to have a big wedding bash at Chequers.)

This is how much things have changed. John Profumo resigned and dedicated his life to good works. Johnson resigned and is throwing himself a wedding party before he goes.

The parallels with another narcissistic charlatan, Donald Trump, are obvious here, but Johnson and his clownish reign are a symbol of the rise of populist chicanery around the world. Johnson, along with Trump, Narendra Modi, Jair Bolsonaro, and many others, is one of the many wealthy populists who gained power by supercharging a sense of resentment among ordinary people. This is the great danger to democracy in the 21st century, and it is the work of men and women who have no sense of decency or duty.

[UTUSN]

1. "many other populist charlatans" - The Atlantic on a non-stop roll