The concepts of populism and demagoguery are also being cynically used to target those movements that do prize nuanced, strategic planning for the future that happen to also conflict with wealthy interests. The whole horseshoe theory is an attempt to overly conflate the group of "people who want significant change" with "angry, ignorant people". It's a counter-simplification that's just as pernicious as someone blaming an immigrant for their problems instead of much bigger systemic processes. As you mention, education is critical and much of it has been steadily stripped of crucial, system-challenging concepts, much like food has been stripped of nutrients and replaced with empty calories. Getting more of such anemic education isn't any better for social health than Big Macs are for bodily health. We criticize "useless" degrees or fields, but have also severely unbalanced dissemination of knowledge to favor just what businesses desire and not necessarily what is good for a society.