Far from celebrating the prospect of getting what they say they want, the ‘refugees welcome’ brigade appear to have had a fit of nimbyism.

Leaders are simply better—more effective, more popular at their peaks, more trusted in the moments that matter—precisely when they refuse to pretend they are better than the rest of us.

Culturally, self-flagellation has become a civic virtue; institutions once central to national life now frame their own founding stock as the problem to be solved.