Meloni came to the European capital with peaceful intentions and moderate rhetoric. She said she wanted to “dismantle” the hostile discourse built around her person, based largely on misunderstandings.

How did we get here? As Trueman explains it, three intertwining concepts and their origins must be understood to grasp our current culture: expressive individualism, the sexual revolution, and our social imaginary.

Every revolution begins with just one man. So does every counter-revolution. All of our many foes have taken that lesson to heart. We have not. And unless we demand total victory, as they do, all we’ll get is more lumps.