One of the problems with America’s populist impulses is that they have made it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for our society to know where to draw the line. It’s as if we are chronically unable to stop ourselves from being pushed down every slippery slope we happen across, even though we know what will happen once we reach the bottom.

That’s why we went from posting black squares on social media during the summer of 2020 to watching as minority-owned businesses were looted and burned to the ground, why “14 days to stop the spread” turned into two years of on-and-off COVID-19 restrictions, and why a well-meaning effort to hold Russia accountable for its invasion of Ukraine has led to Russian vodka being removed from grocery store shelves and Russian cats being banned from international competitions. We grasp on to any and every thing that seems morally significant with a fervor, and we fail to recognize that there is often a difference between what we believe to be just and what is prudent.