«The most critical job of Democrats is to fill their supporters with hope: a hopeless population is more vulnerable to autocracy.» These past few days, I’ve read so many analyses and hot takes that offered simple explanations of why Trump won again. Not helpful. However, I did like this forward-looking interview with Irish writer Joseph O’Neill on what fighting back needs to look like. O’Neill also touches upon reasons for Trump’s win, but he refrains from premature monocausal explanations: «The richest, most militarily secure democracy in the world doesn’t embrace authoritarianism unless lots of mistakes have been made.»

From Weekly Filet #504, in November 2024.