One of the most basic insights of moral philosophy is that our world is thoroughly nonideal, while moral theory is as ideal as one could imagine. The real world is made up of situations that are unjust, immoral, unfortunate, unfair, and irreparable.
In a series of gestures that are nihilistic to the core, lecturing and forcing others into practicing puristic virtues they haven’t freely chosen has become the weapon of choice in a world that’s mercilessly reflexive.
If there is one thing that the past four years have taught us, it is that Western democracy is imploding at a rate that its defenders could not foresee, and that they will turn out to be powerless to stop.