enemies of the people
Declared societal threats
Enemies of the people is a political phrase used to denounce individuals or groups as threats to the common good.
It has a dark history—Stalin used it to justify purges, and the Nazis applied it to Jews.
In contemporary usage, it often targets journalists, judges, or institutions that challenge those in power: He called the press enemies of the people.
The phrase signals an intent to delegitimize rather than debate.
- monopolistsSole market controllers
- scapegoatsThose blamed for others
- tyrantsOppressive absolute rulers
- traitorsThose who commit disloyalty
- foreign agentsRepresentatives of another nation
fifth column · bogeymen · witch hunt · show trials · fake news · profiteers · invaders · opposition · heretics · counter-revolutionaries · dissidents · thought criminals · saboteurs · propagandists · subversives · conspirators · deep state · deviants
- Soviet RepressionStalin, NKVD, gulag, gulags, Great Purge
- Gulaggulag, labor camps, labor camp, prison camps, prison camp
enemies of the peoplebenefactors
Givers of aid
protectors · pillars of society · national heroes · public servants · guardians