In Rioting, TikTok, and IVF, 'Popularism' Bewitches Both Parties - The American Conservative

politics

Is it better for a politician to be popular or principled? That’s an age-old dilemma, tested, for instance, in 1774 Britain. In that year, Edmund Burke declaimed to the electors of Bristol, “Parliament is not a congress of ambassadors from different and hostile interests.” Instead, MPs should meet, deliberate, and ascertain the “the general good.” In that spirit, Burke pledged that he would be a “faithful friend,” but not a “flatterer.”

The American Conservative     Mar 17, 2024