On Populism

Since human beings settled into communities—that is, since most of us stopped being hunter-gatherers—a primary goal of mankind has been to improve how we are governed. We wanted governments that were more representative, fair, and efficient, governments that could improve our economic circumstances and defend themselves (and us) from outside influence or destruction. We wanted …

Europe Fails to Build the New Man Read More »

Between the first and second world wars, most of the European governments—Britain and, to a lesser extent, France, being exceptions—lived lives that were, to paraphrase Hobbes, weak, unstable, and short. The Weimar Republic in Germany faced existential issues from the beginning. Germany had been humiliated in World War I. It had been burdened with impossibly …

The Instability of Europe Read More »

Civilization is like a very fine suit of clothes that is just slightly too small for us. The term “populism” derives from the Latin, populus, meaning “people.” It doesn’t mean “people” in the sense of “There are a lot of people who don’t read my blog.” It means “people” in the sense of a nation, a …

On Populism Read More »