The powerful gain popular appeal by renouncing what they can afford to lose

Evidence

The battle of the poor and the powerless is one of reclamation, not renunciation. But Gandhi, like many successful godmen, was an astute politician. He understood that the act of renunciation by someone who has plenty to renounce has always appealed to the popular imagination. — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 234

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s interest in who can authentically claim to lead the oppressed — parallels the Marxisant critique that renunciation is a luxury gesture, akin to Fromm/Adorno notes on moral character as a privilege of economic security.