I'm reading Faith and Liberty:

The Economic Thought of the Late Scholastics, By Alejandro A. Chafuen.

Paraphrasing Juan de Mariana, Chafuen says:

In the beginning, tyrants are soft and smiling, but once their power is well-established, "their sole intent becomes to demolish and offend." "The rich and the good" become their prime victims. Like doctors who use the healing arts to try to expel bad viruses from the body, tyrants "work to expel from the republic those who can contribute most to its brightness and its future."

And directly quoting:

"They drain the individual treasures. Every day they impose new taxes. They plant the seeds of disruption among the citizens. They engage in one war after another. They put into practice every possible method to avoid rebellion against their cruel tyranny. They construct large monstrous monuments but at the cost of the riches and over the protests of their subjects. Do you think, by chance, that the pyramids in Egypt and the underground caves in Olympus of Thesalia had a different origin?"

Emphasis Chafuen's.

Populists are budding tyrants.

I suppose, that when I quote a book I should cite the page number. In the paperback it is pp. 52-53.