In 1988 the heat from global warming was widely predicted to be a major fall campaign issue. White House hopeful Gov. Michael Dukakis made a photo-op stop at Yellowstone. But the urgency never took hold.
Throughout history, every country, whether it considers itself socialist or capitalist, engages in capitalism to some degree, which is essentially the existence of a marketplace, where goods, services, information, and labor are exchanged.
The Democrats must attract and harness that optimistic spirit. Justifiable fear of an unstable, out-of-control President, yes. We need to point out, too, that the country is split not so much right vs. left as top vs bottom. But there must also be an appeal to our better Angels.
If liberals are going to effectively answer the Trumpist challenge, as I hope we will, it will involve a new appreciation for what David Brooks terms “the secure container” and for the costs of social disorder.
He is, for my money, correctly diagnosing the anomie and nihilism of our time. We are less threatened by repressive religious orthodoxies than by indifference, isolation, and crippling self-preoccupation.
