To Crack 21st-Century Populism, Revisit the 17th Century

One way to cope with our confusing times is to look back at the past. Studying history does more than provide us with perspective on the rush of events. It suggests how they might unfold in the future and how we can shape them to our advantage.

We are currently awash in analogies with the 1930s — de rigueur in progressive circles but also favored by neoconservative “Never Trumpers.” The most exotic analogy, made by the historian James Hankins, is with the mid-fourteenth century, when transnational institutions, the papacy and the Holy Roman Empire, weakened; the Black Death raged; bands of “sturdy beggars” tormented cities; and a “forever war” tore Europe apart. The 1930s school argues that we must fight populism tooth and nail — compromising with it is tantamount to compromising with Hitler or at least Mussolini. The 1330s school argues that we must revive the politics of virtue to cope with cultural decline and despair.