When leftist ideologues constantly excuse criminality and other anti-social behavior, and at the same time damn white conservative males as bigots for defending law and order, and affirming the morality of violence to stop criminals—well, this is how Trump voters are made.

The thing Prime Minister Orbán did not say, but easily could have, is that the West is quite decadent, and in civilizational decline by almost any measure.

These populist parties are rising in popularity because the established parties of both left and right have sold out the interests of their peoples.

It falls to sane ordinary people—like the Polish men at the swimming pool last weekend—to be outraged by the outrageous.

A world without Chartres, without Mont Saint-Michel, without Pernand-Vergelesses, without Monet and Matisse, without the oysters of Brittany, the butter of Normandy, and the quenelles of Lyon, and without autumnal strolls through the Luxembourg Gardens, and a spring gallivant up the Boulevard Saint-Germain would be a world of acute poverty.

The Lexi character is becoming normal among the young raised in the comforts and choices of late capitalism. They cannot bear even the slightest glitch in the matrix of experience without going to pieces.

NATO has entirely subsidized the defense of Zelensky’s country, even to the point where the U.S. doesn’t have enough artillery shells to defend itself if attacked.

In this inaugural commentary for The European Conservative, Rod Dreher introduces himself to our readers.

For decades, Rod Dreher’s writings have driven the cultural conversation in many important ways. Join us as he keeps the discussion going here.