Thread by @shikhadalmia

Today, #TheUnPopulist turned one and this week my marriage turns 22! theunpopulist.substack.com/p/the-unpopuli…

It is fitting that I am celebrating both in Iceland which is home not only to the world’s most stunning scenery but also the longest running parliament.

It is a happy place and therefore we’ll suited to writing an essay contemplating the state of the world with calm and serenity

Perhaps that’s why despite my overall gloominess I could detect some rays of hope that liberalism will survive, especially in my adopted country, America even as populist authoritarianism spreads in India, Hungary, Italy, Sweden, Brazil and more

In America, the constituency for liberalism is strong and regrouping after a rude shock to the body politic.

A realignment is in the works where classical liberals serious abt pluralism, toleration and openness from all across the political spectrum are coalescing even as right wingers are forming their own coalition of the illiberals consisting of NatCons, Flight 93ers, n integralists

Oh, and let us not forget the paleolibertarians! They are an angry bunch full of gripes. But grievance politics can only destroy, not build.

But liberal democracy is the best system ever devised. Its beauty is that it has built in mechanisms of self correction. Hence, it needs to be reformed not burned down.

That is what The UnPopulist plans to do. However, it hopes that it won't take it 22 years to defeat the enemies of liberalism. With your support it can get the job done much sooner and the whole world can be as happy and beautiful as Iceland.

However, a first anniversary is an appropriate occasion to highlight our efforts. So at #TheUnPopulist today, we have featured five essays from the past year that capture our mood and mission.

These are in chronological order, @fabiorojas's essay on #criticalracetheory. He argues that just as structural advantages to favored businesses are hard to eliminate, so are structural advantages for dominant groups. But liberalism is the cure for both.
theunpopulist.substack.com/p/the-good-and…

@ARossP, the uber-amazing host of #TheUnPopulist's Reactionary Minds podcast where he and I discuss why populism is bad news: theunpopulist.substack.com/p/shikha-dalmi…

#TheUnPopulist Editor-at-large @thomasashull's beautiful piece on #Zelensky. Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics brilliantly describes the virtues of a magnanimous man. Shull describes those of a classical liberal person:
theunpopulist.substack.com/p/zelenskyy-th…

@BillGalston's summation of why liberal democracy is everything! Pithy, brilliant, and emotionally satisfying:
theunpopulist.substack.com/p/there-is-no-…

Last but not the leas is @asmauddinesq's piece that argues that Christians and Muslims (or other religions for that matter) need the same accommodations from a secular polity and should join hands: theunpopulist.substack.com/p/the-religiou…

#TheUnPopulist plans to keep bringing you high-quality essays for free. In return, all we ask is that you continue to subscribe, ask your friends to do the same, and share, like, circulate and respectfully comment. Your support is our currency.

My husband is a wise man who stays of social media. So in conclusion of course I'll share a picture of us celebrating in beautiful Iceland.

PS: Go here to subscribe: theunpopulist.substack.com/subscribe

PPS: And a huge thanks to the @mercatus for giving me the platform, freedom and space to launch this project.