Begging the question, "Why are they popular"?
Because (whether it is right, wrong, practical, impractical, sensible, loony-toons), they'll target a group, and tell them what they want to hear.
That group being those who are either wilfully or ignorantly blind to facts, reality, practicality.............
That group being those with wealth, and are damned certain they're gonna hold on to it, and
those without wealth, who want to blame someone else for their predicament.
It's human nature to want something for nothing, or at least a bargain.
The ones who treat that as a realistic reality / inalienable right are "the group".