The election of Donald Trump, the rise of right wing populism in Europe, and difficult to solve problems in much of the world have made many of us pessimistic about the future. I must admit that the similarity between right wing populism today and the rise of fascism in Europe has worried me a lot. This article reminds me of the real progress that we have made over the last few decades. We may encounter some problems along the way with someone like Trump in the White House. They will be short lived however according to a liberal optimist. Trump's rise to power has been at the expense of the libertarian, anti-government ideology that has been a central tenet of Republicanism. Many of Trump's attempts to turn his ideas into legislation will flounder in Congress. Republicans are much better at opposing Democratic initiatives than they are governing. They will really miss Obama because they could all agree opposing him. They will have a hard time reaching agreement on most of the things that Trump has been selling to his base. Paul Ryan is history and Trump is rapidly losing his credibility with young people and with most Americans.
We will have to see how things turn out but I felt much better after being reminded about the strength of our institutions and the strength of the core values that will make life difficult for Trump and his bedfellows
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