The rise of anti-pluralism is the challenge of our time

Will our differences be our destruction?

President Trump.
(Image credit: Illustrated | SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images, -slav-/iStock, IMOGI/iStock)

Since Donald Trump won the GOP nomination and then the presidency in 2016, the political tendency he represents has been called many things. At first many labeled it populism. Then, with the blessing of the president and his advisers, commentators fastened onto nationalism. Meanwhile, his political opponents have insisted all along on describing it as an expression of white supremacy and perhaps even the leading edge of fascism.

There's some truth in all of these terms, but I think New York Times columnist David Brooks does better when he describes the political mood of the moment as "anti-pluralism," which he defines as a reaction against "the diversity, fluidity, and interdependent nature of modern life." As Brooks goes on to explain, "Anti-pluralists yearn for a return to clear borders, settled truths, and stable identities."

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Damon Linker

Damon Linker is a senior correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is also a former contributing editor at The New Republic and the author of The Theocons and The Religious Test.