Last week Rep. Nancy Pelosi made the mistake of engaging in a debate about populism at Oxford Union. Without scripted talking points and a friendly press corps, it was a setting in which Pelosi was likely to tell the world what she really thinks. She didn’t disappoint.

About halfway through the debate, Pelosi uttered the following:

We’ve seen demagogues come down the pike [and] destroy the press. What is it that Republicans say? Fake news. So, they’re diminishing [the press] in the eyes of these poor souls who are looking for some answers. We’ve given them [answers], but they’re blocked by some of their views on guns. They have the three Gs, guns, gays, God. And the cultural issues cloud some of their reception, reception [to] an argument that really is in their interest.

Perhaps realizing how damaging those remarks were, Pelosi claimed, “We don’t accuse people of not knowing what they’re doing. They know what their personal interest is. We respect that.” But if you state that certain people hold views that block them from seeing what is in their best interest, then you are saying that they don’t know what they are doing. And using the “three Gs” the way Pelosi did is not a sign of respect.

Noted economist Thomas Sowell examined at length the attitude displayed by the likes of Pelosi in his book The Vision of the Anointed. That vision is the notion among many in politics, academia, and the media “who believe that third parties can make better decisions than people can make for themselves.” The Anointed exist on a higher moral plane, exemplified by, among other things, their compassion for the poor, support of the oppressed, and concern for the environment. Those who do not share the vision are not just wrong, but they are mean-spirited, and “the ‘real reasons’ behind their arguments and actions must be exposed.” If they continue to prove recalcitrant, then they must be “nullified and superseded by the views of the anointed, imposed via the power of government,” Sowell wrote.

A populist like Donald Trump doesn’t merely have different ideas about what is best for society. He is, Pelosi claimed, a “snake-oil salesman” who sells the vulnerable “a bill of goods.” His real aim was to pass “a tax bill that [gave] 83 percent of the benefits to the top 1 percent.” That benefited his “big, dark, rich, billionaire donors who don’t want to pay taxes.”

More of Pelosi’s Accusations

Pelosi also accused populists of cruelty. They want to suppress “the vote in our country,” “take away … health care,” and let the fossil fuel industry “suffocate the airways,” she said.

This is not the first time Pelosi has expressed this attitude. During the fight over Obamacare, she said, “You’ve heard about the controversies within the bill … I don’t know if you have heard that it is a legislation for the future, not just about health care for America, but about a healthier America … but we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it. Away from the fog of the controversy.”

Pelosi was, in effect, saying: “The arguments against Obamacare are just a distraction. And for those that oppose Obamacare, you can trust us to do what’s best for you because we are smarter and more moral.”

Biden Administration as Anointed

Most politicians, whatever their stripe, possess the Vision of the Anointed to some degree. But some are more possessed than others. From student loans to health insurance subsidies to massive spending bills, the Biden administration has shown no compunction about substituting its judgment for those of ordinary Americans. The problem is that the Anointed like Biden and Pelosi do not suffer the direct consequences of their decisions. Those tend to fall on the people for whom the decisions are being made.

Biden’s Green New Deal is perhaps the harshest example of that. Part of Biden’s green agenda included shutting down new oil drilling on federal land. Taxpayers have picked up the tab for the higher gasoline prices and heating costs required to keep the presidential limousine moving and the White House cozy in the winter. Those same taxpayers will have to fund their higher gas prices and heating bills on their own.

Adults are best suited to make their own decisions. They pay the cost if they are wrong, and that gives them much greater incentive to make good decisions than the Anointed. Come November, it is crucial to remember that many politicians have no respect for that.