The Patriotic Response To Populism

Demagogues hijacked patriotism last year. It’s time to take it back

If 2016 was the year of reckless populism, then 2017 must be the year of clear-eyed patriotism. The surest way to confront demagogues such as Donald Trump and manage ordeals like Brexit is by appealing not only to reason but also to common purpose and duty.

The first step in containing irrational politics, and even turning them back, is to stop whining about what’s happened and start trying to understand it. The whining is understandable, to be sure: Populism, demanding simplistic solutions to complicated problems, is dangerous; when its solutions fail, the anger is apt to mount. Populism also feeds, and feeds on, the kind of extremism that blames foreigners or other imaginary enemies for the difficulties “real people” face.

One of the lessons of 2016 is that merely deploring this style of politics doesn’t work. The only antidote to populism is responsive, responsible government—and the main reason for populism’s recent success is that this kind of government has been in short supply.