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When we speak of 'populism' today,1 we sometimes mean nothing more than a politics that is audible as well as intelligible to the man in the street – or, to be precise, the man and woman slumped on their sofa, their attention skipping fitfully from flat-screen TV to laptop to smartphone to tablet and back to television, or the man and woman at work, sitting in front of desktop PCs but mostly exchanging suggestive personal messages on their smartphones.
Niall Ferguson The Square and the Tower: Networks and Power, from the Freemasons to Facebook
by Niall Ferguson
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In contemporary discussions, 'populism' often refers to politics that resonates with everyday individuals, making it both understandable and accessible. This dynamic caters to a modern audience that is easily distracted, constantly switching between various forms of media, whether they're relaxing at home or engaging in their work environment. Such an understanding of populism highlights the importance of connecting with people in a way that captures their fragmented attention.

Niall Ferguson, in his book "The Square and the Tower," examines how political messaging adapts to an audience that interacts with technology on multiple platforms. This connection reflects a broader trend in politics aimed at simplifying complex ideas so they can be grasped quickly by individuals who navigate their lives through an array of digital devices. In this context, populism becomes a strategy to engage a populace increasingly consumed by screen-based communication.

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The Square and the Tower: Networks and Power, from the Freemasons to Facebook
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Niall Ferguson
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Other quotes in The Square and the Tower: Networks and Power, from the Freemasons to Facebook

Just as global networks of communication and transportation had made the mass migrations of the late nineteenth century possible,6 so political networks of populism and nativism sprang into life to resist them.
Niall Ferguson The Square and the Tower: Networks and Power, from the Freemasons to Facebook
Just as global networks of communication and transportation had made the mass migrations of the late nineteenth century possible,6 so political networks of populism and nativism sprang into life to resist them.
American legislators scarcely rested until Chinese immigration to the United States had been altogether stopped. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 suspended immigration of Chinese for ten years, introduced 'certificates of registration' for departing workers {effectively re-entry permits}, required Chinese officials to vet travellers from Asia, and for the first time in US history created an offence of illegal immigration, with the possibility of deportation as a part of the penalty.
Niall Ferguson The Square and the Tower: Networks and Power, from the Freemasons to Facebook
American legislators scarcely rested until Chinese immigration to the United States had been altogether stopped. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 suspended immigration of Chinese for ten years, introduced 'certificates of registration' for departing workers {effectively re-entry permits}, required Chinese officials to vet travellers from Asia, and for the first time in US history created an offence of illegal immigration, with the possibility of deportation as a part of the penalty.
Rather than being a cause of the late twentieth-century crisis, the Internet appears to have been a consequence of the breakdown of hierarchical power.
Niall Ferguson The Square and the Tower: Networks and Power, from the Freemasons to Facebook
Rather than being a cause of the late twentieth-century crisis, the Internet appears to have been a consequence of the breakdown of hierarchical power.
With good reason, Joseph Goebbels described radio as 'the spiritual weapon of the totalitarian state'. Stalin might have added that the telephone was God's gift to eavesdroppers.
Niall Ferguson The Square and the Tower: Networks and Power, from the Freemasons to Facebook
With good reason, Joseph Goebbels described radio as 'the spiritual weapon of the totalitarian state'. Stalin might have added that the telephone was God's gift to eavesdroppers.
When half the nodes of a random graph the size of most real-world networks are removed, the network is destroyed. But when the same procedure is carried out against a scale-free model of a similar size, 'the giant connected component resists even after removing more than 80 per cent of the nodes, and the average distance within it {between nodes} is practically the same as at the beginning
Niall Ferguson The Square and the Tower: Networks and Power, from the Freemasons to Facebook
When half the nodes of a random graph the size of most real-world networks are removed, the network is destroyed. But when the same procedure is carried out against a scale-free model of a similar size, 'the giant connected component resists even after removing more than 80 per cent of the nodes, and the average distance within it {between nodes} is practically the same as at the beginning
Systems can be fast, open, or secure, but only two of these three at a time.'51 The threat to world order can be summed up as 'very fast networks x artificial intelligence x black boxes x the New Caste x compression of time x everyday objects x weapons'.52
Niall Ferguson The Square and the Tower: Networks and Power, from the Freemasons to Facebook
Systems can be fast, open, or secure, but only two of these three at a time.'51 The threat to world order can be summed up as 'very fast networks x artificial intelligence x black boxes x the New Caste x compression of time x everyday objects x weapons'.52
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They are afraid of him?' D'Harcourt raised his comedian's eyebrows. Danny Hislop's bright teeth flashed in his hairless, unremarkable face. 'If they were afraid, they'd tear him to pieces like schoolgirls. My guess is that he's gorgeous. A terrible tease and nasty at moments, but oh Maeve, he has such a way with him.… Is he gorgeous, dear Adam?' Adam Blacklock, thus addressed, said quietly, 'Undoubtedly gorgeous.
Dorothy Dunnett The Ringed Castle
They are afraid of him?' D'Harcourt raised his comedian's eyebrows. Danny Hislop's bright teeth flashed in his hairless, unremarkable face. 'If they were afraid, they'd tear him to pieces like schoolgirls. My guess is that he's gorgeous. A terrible tease and nasty at moments, but oh Maeve, he has such a way with him.… Is he gorgeous, dear Adam?' Adam Blacklock, thus addressed, said quietly, 'Undoubtedly gorgeous.
Henry of England had all the virtues and all the faults, and solved the contradiction by making scapegoats and sin-eaters of half his entourage.
Dorothy Dunnett The Game of Kings
Henry of England had all the virtues and all the faults, and solved the contradiction by making scapegoats and sin-eaters of half his entourage.
It isn't that music doesn't matter: the reverse, as it happens. So my defences against it are very strong. Can you understand that?
Dorothy Dunnett Pawn in Frankincense
It isn't that music doesn't matter: the reverse, as it happens. So my defences against it are very strong. Can you understand that?
The drink was almost certainly safe. He would probably get pleurisy, quinsy and pox from the cup.
Dorothy Dunnett Pawn in Frankincense
The drink was almost certainly safe. He would probably get pleurisy, quinsy and pox from the cup.
Happiness, that most childish of states, is infectious. Furthermore, in its innocence, it will not be hidden, even when tempered with sorrow
Dorothy Dunnett Gemini
Happiness, that most childish of states, is infectious. Furthermore, in its innocence, it will not be hidden, even when tempered with sorrow
The Buke of Ye Chess used the game as the basis for a series of sermons on morality. Neither book illustrates play or player improvement, but uses the chessboard and pieces to 'allegorize a political community whose citizens contribute to the common good'2.
Laura Caine Ramsey The Ultimate Guide to Dorothy Dunnett's The Game of Kings
The Buke of Ye Chess used the game as the basis for a series of sermons on morality. Neither book illustrates play or player improvement, but uses the chessboard and pieces to 'allegorize a political community whose citizens contribute to the common good'2.
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