American humorist P. J. O'Rourke recently told an interviewer he has only met a few Americans who actually voted for Donald Trump; he has, however, met a whole boatload, who voted against Hillary Clinton.

And that in a nutshell describes the essence of populism.

Basically, what we call populism is a negative political movement which feeds on the frustration and anger of people who don't like the status quo.

Voters who support populist politicians like Trump, in other words, typically believe the economic or political system as it exists, either treats them unfairly or else ignores their needs; so in response, they remind the system they exist by giving it a good swift kick in the shins.

And it's this negativity and anger that's associated with populism, which leads many to fear it.

Yet, I'd argue fear is the wrong emotional response.

For me, the best way to deal with populism is with empathy.

Yes, I realize that makes me totally untrendy, since it's fashionable these days to treat populism with something akin to undisguised contempt.

Plus, the more contempt you openly display for it, the more of a hero you are to the all the anti-populist denizens who inhabit the media establishment echo chamber.

Hence, opinion leaders have an incentive to portray angry voters not as fellow citizens with a legitimate gripe, but as an unruly, pitch-fork-wielding mob of uneducated rabble who want to upend civilization.

In fact, this elitist sour attitude towards the common "mob" is as old as democracy.

Back in the days of Ancient Athens, which was the world's first democracy, famed philosopher Plato openly opposed giving political power to what he regarded as the intellectually and morally inferior masses.

As he put, "the laws of democracy remain a dead letter, its freedom is anarchy, its equality the equality of unequals."

This Platonian suspicion, that democracy empowers the unwashed hordes, lives on even today; we see it reflected in Clinton's infamous remark likening Trump's supporters to a "basket of deplorables," we see it in the words of Toronto Star columnist John Barber, who blamed Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne's recent electoral loss on "populist derangement."

Wrote Barber: "She failed because she's a woman, and because she's gay.  She failed because she's Ontarian, at the mercy of Ontarians, and we're as ugly as anyone."

Thus in the eyes of Plato and Clinton and Barber, populism is basically democracy run amok; stupid people voting in ways in which smart people, i.e.  Plato, Clinton and Barber, believe is incorrect.

So if smart, trendy people think populism is so terrible, why do I think we should empathize with it?

Well, for one thing populism can sometimes bring about positive changes.

In his book, A Capitalism for the People, economist Luigi Zingales notes, for example, that American populism, helped bring about the Bill of Rights, anti-trust legislation and the democratic election of U.S. Senators.

But there's another important factor to consider.

When people vote for populist politicians or parties, they're expressing their anger and frustration through the ballot box, which is certainly preferable to rioting in the streets.

And that's the genius of democracy, which Plato overlooked it gives people a mechanism to peacefully challenge the status quo.

Of course, that's only half the democratic equation the other half, is that the powers who make up our political Establishment, must seek to understand why the current system is under attack.

They need to ask themselves, why isn't the status quo working for large numbers of citizens?

Then, as a next step, they must somehow address and allay the anxieties and fears which lead to populist uprisings.

If they fail to take those steps, if they continue to mock people who embrace populism, or to demonize them, or worse, if they continue to ignore their concerns, it will only make the populist impulse stronger, which could lead to serious problems, since like any emotion-laden movement, populism can eventually morph into something truly ugly and dangerous.

So my point is, the best way to stop populism isn't to fight it, but to defuse it.

And that takes empathy.