For two weeks in June, I never saw the night sky.

I did, however, see soaring mountains sinking into impossibly blue fjords, vast glaciers, historic urban centers, beautifully manicured gardens and too many waterfalls to count.

A group of Pioneer Press readers and I toured Scandinavia, which was everything I hoped it would be and more. We visited Sweden, Denmark and Norway, getting glimpses into cosmopolitan cities and remote wilderness. And we were there during the summer solstice, during which the sun sets after 11 p.m. and rises before 4 a.m.

Here’s a rundown of our trip, which was hosted by Collette Tours and co-sponsored by the Pioneer Press.

Sweden

Colorful buildings in Stockholm, Sweden’s old town. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)

We began our trip in Stockholm, the stunning capital of Sweden, which is essentially 14 islands connected by 57 bridges.

Approximately one million people reside in the city proper, which is a blend of historic buildings and contemporary architecture. All the bridges make the city extremely walkable, despite all the water.

Our tour manager, Mattias Andersson, is from Sweden, so he was full of quick facts about his home country. A few things Sweden is known for: IKEA, meatballs, shrimp toast, Pippi Longstocking (author Astrid Lindgren is Swedish) and Abba.

After getting to know Andersson over those two weeks, I’d also venture to say that Swedes should be known for fierce loyalty to their country (he loved to spar with our Danish and Norwegian motorcoach drivers over which Scandinavian country was the best) and goofy senses of humor. Believe it or not, Andersson even tells Ole and Lena jokes!

For our welcome dinner, we had some of those famous meatballs, which were bigger than the IKEA version, but honestly pretty similar in flavor, complete with as many lingonberries as we could scoop onto our plates. It was tasty, but I preferred the toast skagen, which is a creamy salad made with tiny, briny shrimp, piled onto buttery toast.

The Gold Room in Stockholm City Hall. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)

Stockholm is also the birthplace of Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite who founded the Nobel Foundation and its prestigious prizes.

All but the Nobel Peace Prize (which is awarded in Oslo, Norway) are presented in a lavish ceremony in Stockholm, at the breathtaking Stockholm City Hall, completed in 1923.

On the morning after our arrival, we toured the building, hearing from a guide about the beautiful Blue Room where the main ceremony takes place. It’s much smaller than I expected, especially because around 1,300 people attend.

The architect, Ragnar Östberg, intended the blue tiles in the ceremony space to represent the abundant water surrounding the city. He also worked and re-worked the staircase leading to the room to accommodate women in long dresses and high heels. He didn’t want any of them tripping or having to look down as cameras clicked away.

After the Nobel ceremony, guests dance in the Golden Hall, which is adorned with mosaics comprised of more than 18 million tiles, the majority of which are made with inlaid gold leaf. The mosaics tell the story of Swedish history, and it’s an excellent idea to have a guide to help interpret them.

After our visit to City Hall, we wandered through Stockholm’s quaint old town, squeezing through its narrowest street, Mårten Trotzigs Gränd, which is just 35 inches wide, and peering into shops selling hand-painted dala horses, hand-knitted sweaters and other crafts and souvenirs.

A cinnamon roll and coffee in the old town of Stockholm, Sweden. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)

Our noses led us to Grillska Huset, a tiny bakery on the main square, where we ordered some strong coffee and the best cinnamon roll I’ve ever tasted — its crisp edges and silky filling still live in my memory. I spent the entire trip trying to find a better one and failing, but the hunt was still delicious. From now on, every time I smell cinnamon, I’ll think of Sweden, where fika, the word for a coffee break that often involves pastries, is a way of life.

In the afternoon, we were offered the choice between two Stockholm museums: Abba and the Vasa Ship Museum. Though it was a tough decision (I’m a Gen Xer who grew up on Abba’s disco-adjacent stylings), I went with the ship museum.

I’m glad I did. The museum is built around a fully intact, 17th-century ship that sank just 1,400 yards into its maiden voyage in 1628. The ship was discovered in a busy shipping harbor in the 1950s, and brought up out of the water in 1961, with her hull largely intact.

The ship was one of the most heavily armored ever built. Sweden’s King Gustavus Adolphus commissioned the vessel to go to war with Poland-Lithuania, and he ordered her to be ornately decorated and armed with bronze cannons as a show of Sweden’s military ambitions.

Unfortunately, Vasa was dangerously unstable, with most of her weight residing in the upper decks, and she sank when the first breeze hit her.

Due to the conditions of the heavily polluted, muddy waters in the harbor, shipworms and other microorganisms that generally break down wood were absent, leaving Vasa remarkably intact.

To preserve the ship after she was gently lifted from the water with large pontoon boats, she was sprayed continuously with polyethylene glycol for 17 years, then allowed to dry very slowly until around 2011.

The stern of the Vasa ship in Stockholm, Sweden. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)

All of this is very interesting, but the ship itself, with its ornate, intact wooden sculptures that adorn the entire stern and bow, would be incredible to look at even without knowing its history. Those sculptures were painted in bright colors that have since worn away. You can see a model in the museum of how Vasa looked when she set sail, but in my opinion, the natural wood is much more captivating.

From left, Amy and Steve Anderson, Gloria Bogen, Jess Fleming, Julie Krueger, Tim Bell, Ann Spinner, Roger Spinner and Carey Bell at the Icebar in Stockholm, Sweden. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)

That evening, a group of travelers and I popped into Icebar, an indoor bar made entirely of ice. They even give you cute ponchos to wear inside, and you drink your cocktail (mine had lingonberry juice in it, naturally) out of glasses made of ice. You could tell we were the only ones in there from a northern climate, because none of us used our hoods (and one of us even wore shorts!)

On our way to Copenhagen, we stopped in Gothenburg, Sweden for a night, where we had a lovely meal in a French/Scandinavian brasserie before retiring for the night. Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and has a lively, cosmopolitan vibe. I wish we had more time there, but other places called.

Smoked salmon at Sofiero Palace in Sweden. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)

The next morning there was one more stop, at Sofiero Palace, a former seaside summer home for Swedish royalty that boasts the largest collection of rhododendrons in Scandinavia. Unfortunately, they had already bloomed for the season. But the rest of the gardens, meticulously planted by  Prince Gustaf Adolf, future King Gustaf VI Adolf, and his wife, Crown Princess Margaret, in the early 1900s, are worth a wander. I especially loved the long hedge with square windows cut into it, which served as a place for early 20th-century speed dating! Men stood on one side, women on the other, and they moved from window to window trying to find a love connection.

We were treated to a fantastic salmon lunch in the palace’s charming, airy restaurant, which has beautiful views of the gardens and the sea.

Copenhagen, Denmark

Colorful harborfront houses in Copenhagen, Denmark. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)

After leaving the gardens, from which we could see one of the islands of Denmark, we said goodbye to Sweden, arriving in Copenhagen in the afternoon.

Many of us headed straight for the harbor, which is dotted with colorful, multi-story buildings, most of which have restaurants on the first floor.

We hit a patio for a tasty Carlsberg beer, soaking up the sun and sea air while watching people stream by. The harbor here has been used since the Vikings ruled in the 10th Century, when the city was first established.

A hot dog in the harbor in Copenhagen, Denmark. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)

We were on our own for dinner that night, and I happened across a hot dog stand near the harbor. All my research told me that I had to have one of these spectacular sausages, which come slathered in mustard, mayo, ketchup, fresh and fried onions, bacon and fresh pickle slices. It was, bar none, the best hot dog I’ve ever eaten. The sausage was well-seasoned and snappy and all the toppings worked together in perfect harmony.

The rest of the group decided to sit down for dinner, but all of them made a beeline for the same stand the next day and everyone agreed that it was a killer dog, and a cheap lunch at just about $5. I loved it so much that I had another one when everyone else did.

Before lunch that day, we wandered this clean, elegant port city, walking through secret gardens, marveling at the Baroque and Neoclassical architecture, and crossing the many bridges that connect the two islands upon which Copenhagen is built.

We took a short ride to the city’s most-photographed statue, the Little Mermaid, which is perched on a seaside rock. The four-foot-tall bronze statue is a tribute to the story by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen and is considered a symbol of Denmark.

Later that afternoon, some of us took a canal tour, getting glimpses of the amazing architecture and canal life, with many houseboats and restaurants lining the way. Locals swim in the canals, and we saw some on floating rafts, having happy hour with patio chairs and tables perched on top.

A building in at dusk in Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)

We took a quick walk (and a Carlsberg break) in the third-oldest amusement park in the world, Tivoli Gardens, before heading back to get ready for dinner. Tivoli is a true delight: There are restaurants, bars, shops, stages, rollercoasters and even a casino — in short, something for everyone. When I return, I’ll plan to spend more time here. We did take an after-dinner stroll through the park for a nightcap, and it’s even more beautiful at dusk, as all the buildings and attractions are blanketed with colorful lights.

Snail toast at Mark Bistro & Bar in Copenhagen, Denmark. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)

Copenhagen is a notoriously amazing culinary destination, so choosing a restaurant for dinner was difficult. I finally settled on Mark Bistro & Bar, which was a short walk from our hotel and offered both a la carte options and a tasting menu. A few travelers opted to dine with me, and we loved every bite — from familiar spring flavors like rhubarb, kefir and snap peas (all in one dish) to toast topped with snails and edible flowers, two things I’m somewhat leery of, but were startlingly delicious in this chef’s hands.

On our way out of town, we visited the National Museum of Denmark, where most of us spent the majority of our time in the Viking Sorceress temporary exhibition. The spellbinding exhibit starts with a walk through the fantastical world of a Viking Sorceress and ends with a hall full of artifacts from the time, many of which show what everyday life was like for those who lived in the Viking era.

It’s here that I should reveal that I was born in Green Bay, Wis., and therefore a die-hard Packer fan. When I’m traveling, one of my favorite traditions is to learn the equivalent of “cheers!” from the region and use it often when clinking wine or beer glasses with guests.

In all of Scandinavia, it’s, you guessed it, the Minnesota Vikings’ annoying rallying cry, skol. And yes, I begrudgingly said it more times than I care to recall.

Oslo, Norway

On a drive through Norway’s countryside, squat, red wooden houses punctuate the blanket of evergreens. The houses may look different from those in the Midwest, but the same firs and birch trees, even the same wildflowers and lilacs add color to the landscape.

There’s a reason so many of us have roots in Scandinavia. Our harsh winters and gorgeous summers reminded our ancestors of home.

My great-grandfather made the solo voyage from his hometown of Tromsø, Norway, to the U.S. in 1901 at the tender age of 15. He created a life for himself that included a long marriage and nine children. When he died in 1979, I was one of 53 of his great-grandchildren.

I was excited to see the land from which this part of my family originated, even if I wouldn’t get to see Tromsø, which is above the Arctic Circle and about 900 miles north of the northernmost point of this tour. (Norway is a long country!)

And from the pine-forest smell to the easy, reserved nature of its inhabitants, Norway did indeed feel like home.

We left Copenhagen via overnight ferry, waking up to glimpses of the harbor in Oslo. This big cruise ship is a pretty slick way to travel a long distance, and much more comfortable than any airplane.

A statue in Frogner Park in Oslo, Norway. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)

Oslo, we quickly learned, is a cosmopolitan and growing city. There’s a stunning, modern harborside arts district, but also plenty of historic buildings mixed in with the new. Public art is abundant as well, with Frogner Park being one of the best examples. The picturesque park, which is a few minutes’ walk from the city center, is a must-see when you’re in Oslo. A local guide helped interpret the hundreds of bronze and granite statues by Norwegian sculptor Gustav Vigeland, who worked on the installation for more than 20 years. The statues depict naked humans in various stages of life, many of which show intense emotions ranging from glee to despair.

We lunched at Gamle Raadhus, one of the oldest restaurants in Norway. The building, constructed in 1641, was originally the town hall. The restaurant opened in 1856 and has been operating nearly continuously since.

Our whitefish and cabbage-wedge entree was preceded by a silky, nutty cauliflower soup. Both were excellent, and the 1920s-era interior provides a great atmosphere.

“Anxiety” by Edvard Munch, from the Munch musuem in Oslo, Norway. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)

I also recommend the Munch Museum, dedicated to the works of Edvard Munch, whose most famous painting, “The Scream,” resides in the building. Munch spent most of his life in Oslo, and the building is an imposing, leaning box on the harborfront.

Munch was much more than just that painting, though many of his works explore despair, depression and anxiety. He struggled with his mental health throughout his life, but he lived to the ripe old age of 80, succumbing to pneumonia in 1944.

The works in the museum span the painter’s rich life — including a few versions of “The Scream,” created in 1894. Munch made many different versions of the celebrated work, including one painting (tempera and oil on cardboard), one drawing (crayon on cardboard) and six lithographs. Because of the fragile materials (cardboard degrades much faster than canvas), only one of the versions is on display at one time, and they are all housed in a darkened area within the exhibit. The paintings swap out every 30 minutes, though, so if you time it right, you can see a few.

Afterward, it’s worth popping up to the rooftop of the building for a drink or a snack, as the views of the harbor are spectacular.

Flåm, Loen and Bergen, Norway

The Borgund Stave Church in Norway. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)

On our way to Flåm, where we stayed for a night before boarding the famous railway for an hourlong tour of the mountains and fjords, we stopped at the Borgund Stave Church, one of the best preserved of its kind in Norway. Of about 2,000 original stave churches, only 28 survive.

Borgund is an old one, too — it was built around 1180, using pine timber preserved with charred pine tar, giving the structure its characteristic dark color.

The interior is also dark, due to the scarcity of windows, but it’s easy to imagine worshippers crowded inside, listening to masses in Latin, which none of the locals spoke. These stave churches are adorned with dragons and other Viking motifs, likely in an effort to attract followers who were wary of Christianity.

Should you be lucky enough to visit Norway in the summer, be sure to stop at a grocery store or farmers’ market and grab a pint of strawberries. Because the long summer days offer extra time for ripening, they are extraordinarily sweet and juicy. They make the perfect motorcoach or train snack!

Two foods notably absent, though, are lefse and lutefisk. One traveler in our group, who is of Norwegian heritage, said she never had the guts to try lutefisk in Minnesota, so she was bound and determined to find it in Norway. She did not succeed. According to the locals, the lye-cured fish is a fading tradition that only shows up during the holidays.

It’s the same with the Norwegian food I most remember from my childhood — lefse. I imagined all grandmothers in Norway making floppy rounds of the potato-based flatbread and serving it to their grandchildren slathered in butter, cinnamon and sugar. However, I was told that families who make the time-consuming bread do it mostly around Christmas time. I did find a packaged version in a grocery store, which was fine, but not what I had hoped for.

The Kjosfossen waterfall on the Flåm railway. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)

After a restful sleep at the gorgeous Fretheim Hotel in Flåm, it was time to board the historic railway for an out-and-back trip that takes several hours and winds through 20 hand-excavated tunnels. Between the darkness, the train passes soaring peaks, picturesque farms, bright blue fjords and rushing waterfalls. The train makes one stop, outside the massive Kjosfossen waterfall, where visitors can stand in the waterfall spray and take photos. Norwegian folk music permeates the air, and an actress playing Huldra, an elusive forest spirit from Norse mythology, dances on a cliff next to it. It might sound hokey, but the whole experience is magical.

After the train ride, we took another motorcoach ride with impossibly beautiful views from every angle, ending in the village of Loen, where we would catch the Geirangerfjord cruise.

Less of a cruise and more of a fancy ferry, the boat took us past the Bridal Veil and Seven Sisters waterfalls, some of the best-known in the fjord region.

Afterward, Andersson suggested we take a private mountain highway for more spectacular views, and all of us heartily endorsed the idea.

The harrowing, hairpin-turn-filled drive up Dalsnibba Mountain ends at a parking lot surrounded by a skywalk that juts out over a valley and offers sweeping views of the nearby snowcapped peaks. It’s worth a few Kroner to get up there, if you’re lucky enough to have someone willing to drive.

The Seven Sisters waterfall on Geirangerfjord in Norway. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)

We stayed two nights at the Alexandra Hotel in Loen, which has a nice spa and indoor and outdoor pools. We spent some time in the outdoor pool on a warm afternoon, marveling at the views and our good fortune at being in this beautiful place. I only wish the pools stayed open longer, because as much as I value my sleep, a swim under the midnight sun would be an amazing experience.

On the way to Bergen, we stopped at the outdoor Nordfjord Folkemuseum. The facility consists of a visitors’ center and a few acres of historic homesteads, schools and other buildings, ranging from the 16th century to the end of the 19th.

We learned from a guide about how rooftops covered with turf kept heat in during cold winters, and how different buildings in a community had different uses — from a kitchen to storage to sleeping. Communities worked together for the good of all, which seems like a good lesson in these times. Though I could do without the death door at the back of the oldest houses, which is how dead bodies were taken out of the home. It was thought to prevent their spirits from returning.

Bryggen, the colorful wooden row houses on the harbor that comprise a UNESCO World Heritage site in Bergen, Norway. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)

Before coming to Norway, I knew very little about the west-coast city of Bergen, known as the gateway to the fjords. The second-largest city in Norway, it is nestled between the mountains and the sea. It doesn’t freeze much due to its proximity to the sea, but it does rain. A lot. Like, 300 days of the year.

Locals, armed with quality rain gear and sturdy umbrellas, take the rain in stride. Patios on the harbor offer glass roofs to let the daylight in and keep the rain out. Every little shop along the harbor sells brightly colored raincoats and umbrellas.

We stayed at the Radisson Blu, which is located in Bryggen, the colorful wooden row houses on the harbor that comprise a UNESCO World Heritage site. Our local guide helped us understand the structures, which have burned down many times since the district was established around 1050 A.D. The current buildings, rebuilt to the same specifications as those before them, are from 1702.

A goat in the park on Mount Fløyen in Bergen, Norway. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)

With a local guide, we walked through the narrow alleys between the houses, learning about the lives of German merchants who were exporting massive amounts of dried cod, timber, furs and more. For 400 years, no women were allowed to enter the district. Between that and all the dried cod, I couldn’t stop thinking about how awful it must have smelled. Also, because of the wooden buildings, fires weren’t allowed in the row houses. It must have taken a lot of wool blankets to sleep during the colder months!

If you visit Bergen, a ride up the city’s charming funicular is a must. The lightning-fast ride takes you to the top of Mount Fløyen, where there’s a pretty park to walk around — including a pack of resident goats — and a long walkway with wonderful views of the city below.

Down in the harbor, the city is well-known for its indoor and outdoor fish market, established in 1200 as a gathering place for locals and fishermen. There’s an outdoor segment that includes tents for dining at some of the stands, and lots of beautiful, fresh fish on display.

It was cold and rainy on the day we had there, so we chose to dine inside the gorgeous, modern indoor market, where I had some of the freshest mussels I’ve ever tasted, even introducing a few travelers to them, because the portion was enough to feed an army.

Leaving Norway was tough — I felt like we had barely scratched the surface. I know I’ll return someday, though, to see Tromsø, the place my Norwegian ancestors called home.

And no, I won’t be saying the word skol again until then.

Pioneer Press readers and other Collette travelers in the fjord region of Norway. (Courtesy of Mattias Andersson)

Want to travel with Jess?

We still have a few spots in our 2026 travel lineup — Ireland in May and a European River Cruise in September.

We are holding an in-person presentation about both trips at 5:30 p.m. tomorrow, Monday, Aug. 4, at Bad Weather Brewing, 414 W. Seventh St., St. Paul.

For more information, the Ireland website is here: https://gateway.gocollette.com/link/1293829. We will present that trip first.

And the website for the cruise down the Rhine and Moselle rivers is here: https://gateway.gocollette.com/link/1302938

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PELLE DRAGSTED: Danish author discusses his book “Nordic Socialism: The Path Toward a Democratic Economy.” Free. 7 p.m. Aug. 10, East Side Freedom Library, 1105 Greenbrier St., St. Paul.

DAVID HOUSEWRIGHT: Award-winning Minnesotan discusses his most recent thrillers: “Them Bones” and “Girl in a Dumpster.” 7 p.m. Wednesday, Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Mpls.

Minnesotans author David LaRochelle and illustrator Colleen Muske introduce their new children’s picture book, “How To Draw a Tree,” Aug. 9, 2025 at Red Balloon Bookshop in St. Paul. (Courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society Press)

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LaROCHELLE/MUSKE: Award-winning Minnesota writer David LaRochelle and illustrator Colleen Muske host a story time celebrating their new children’s picture book “How to Draw a Tree,” based on understanding your subject. How do you get to know a tree? By using all your senses. 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Red Balloon Bookshop, 891 Grand Ave., St. Paul. Free. Registration suggested at: redballoonbookshop.com.

MATTIE LUBCHANSKY: Discusses “Simplicity,” her queer, trans story that blends science fiction and horror with hope in a terrifying future. In conversation with Blue Delliquanti. 7 p.m. Tuesday, Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Mpls.

PATRICK STRAIT: Discusses his books about the local comedy scene: “Home Club: Up-and-Comers” and “Comebacks at Acme Comedy Company,” in conversation with Louis Lee, founder of Acme Comedy Company. 7 p.m. Monday, Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Mpls.

The main political argument in the 20th century was over the size of government. On the left, people tried to use government to reduce inequality and offer an economic safety net. On the right, people tried to reduce taxes and regulations to boost growth and social dynamism.

That era is clearly over. Donald Trump is a big-government populist who has destroyed small-government conservatism. He’s using state power to adopt a mercantilist tariff policy that redirects global trade flows. He’s using industrial policy to pick economic winners and losers. He’s using state power to micromanage key universities. The Trump Defense Department just spent $400 million to become that largest shareholder of a private rare-earth elements company. Trump got himself a “golden share” of U.S. Steel, giving the president sweeping powers over a private company’s business decisions.

Nearly 45 years ago, Ronald Reagan said in his first inaugural, “In the present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.” That seems like an ice age ago. Now we have an administration that’s all about concentrated executive power and relentless federal action.

How did the Republicans move so far, so fast?

Society is broken?

Well, the 20th century argument over the role of government happened at a time when people basically thought America was working. When society seems stable, the individual is seen as the primary political reality: How can we support individuals so they can rise and prosper — a tax cut here, a new social program there.

But today, most people think America is broken. According to recent surveys, public trust in institutions is near its historical low. According to a recent Ipsos survey, about two-thirds of Americans agree with the statement “Society is broken.”

As David Frum pointed out recently in The Atlantic, between 1983 and 2007, the share of Americans who were satisfied with “the way things are going in the U.S.” hit peaks of about 70% and was often above 50%. Over the 15 years from 2007-22, the number of Americans who were satisfied with the way things were going was frequently down to about 25%.

America’s social order has fractured, and that has made all the difference.

‘Order is the first need of all’

French mystic Simone Weil once wrote that “order is the first need of all.” She emphasized that the social order is built on our obligations to one another, the texture of our trustworthy relationships.

To put it another way, all humans need to grow up in a secure container, within which they can craft their lives. The social order consists of a stable family, a safe and coherent neighborhood, a vibrant congregational and civic life, a reliable body of laws, a set of shared values that neighbors can use to build healthy communities and a conviction that there exists moral truth.

If you want a clearer idea of what a social order is, I recommend Russell Kirk’s 1974 book, “The Roots of American Order.” Kirk showed how, over the centuries, certain values, practices and institutions emerged, gradually forming the basis of the American social order.

Kirk wrote that the importance of the social order was best appreciated by imagining its opposite: “A disordered existence is a confused and miserable existence. If a society falls into general disorder, many of its members will cease to exist at all. And if the members of a society are disordered in spirit, the outward order of the commonwealth cannot endure.”

Millions of Americans believe that this is where we are. They see families splinter or never form, neighborhood life decay, churches go empty, friends die of addictions, downtowns become vacant, a national elite grow socially and morally detached. We have privatized morality so that there are no longer shared values. The educated-class institutions have grown increasingly left wing and can sometimes feel like a hostile occupying army to other Americans.

If you think society is in moral and civic chaos …

When the social order is healthy, nobody notices; when it is in rubble, it’s all anybody can think about. Once the social order was shredded, small government conservatism made no sense. If your society is in tatters, why would you want a small government doing nothing? If you think society is in moral and civic chaos, why would you think this or that tax cut or this or that government program is going to make a difference?

I’m a big fan of baby bonds. But a recent high-quality study showed that children whose parents received $333 per month did no better over four years than children whose parents received nothing. If a child’s social order is broken, federal money alone will not help.

People who feel that society is fundamentally rigged, unfair and chaotic turn to populists. Populism is an ethos that cuts across the categories of the big government/small government debates. Populists can be very conservative on social issues and isolationist and nativist on immigration issues but very progressive when it comes to redistributing the wealth.

During the 1930s, for example, the Townsend Plan was by far the largest social movement, claiming to have more than 1,000 clubs nationwide. Some of its supporters were hostile to the New Deal, and its meetings featured frequent denunciations of cigarettes, lipsticks, necking and other signs of urban depravity, but these people also supported subsidies for the elderly that dwarfed those being proposed as part of what was then the new Social Security system.

In a word: ‘misarchist’

I recently learned a new word from a Jon Allsop piece in The New Yorker: misarchist. A misarchist is a leader who is hostile to government and the people who run it but is willing to use state power to enforce order and traditional morals. Misarchists often see a public office as their own personal property, which they can use however they want to take down their enemies.

Trump is a misarchist extraordinaire. He concentrates state power so he can go after the managerial class who he and his followers believe have betrayed America and destroyed the social order — civil servants, university administrators, journalists, scientists and so on. The purpose is to use state power to, in JD Vance’s words, “overthrow the modern ruling class.” Trump demagogically once called this his retribution. But millions of Trump followers see it as their best shot at restoring order.

The central argument of the 21st century is no longer over the size of government. The central argument of this century is over who can best strengthen the social order. In this contest, the Republicans have their champions and the Democrats aren’t even on the field.

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Republicans have more quickly understood these new circumstances because conservatives instinctively understand that policy is downstream from culture. They instinctively understand the primary importance of the prepolitical; those covenantal bonds that precede individual choice — your commitment to family, God, nation and community. They understand, as Edmund Burke argued, that manners and morals are more important than laws. The social order is the primary social reality.

Since the progressive era, Democrats have seen society through a government policy lens that is often oblivious to the prepolitical social fabric that holds or does not hold society together from the bottom. Democrats have often been technocratic, relying excessively on social science, policy wonkery; they are prone to the kind of thinking that does not see the sinews of our common life — the stuff that cannot be quantified.

Democrats — clueless, the evidence suggests

Democrats are the party of the elite managerial class, and it’s hard for us affluent, educated types in blue cities to really understand the gut-wrenching disgust, rage and alienation that envelops the less privileged as they watch their social order collapse.

I’ve read dozens of pieces from Democratic pols on how their party can turn things around. Each one — promoting this or that policy — is more pathetic than the last. These people still act and think as if it’s the 20th century and everything will be better if we can have another New Deal. They aren’t even willing to confront the core Democratic question: How does the party of the managerial elite adapt to a populist age?

The Democratic opportunity comes from the fact that, as always, Trump doesn’t try to solve the problems he addresses; he just provides a show business simulacra of a solution. If Democrats can come up with an alternative vision of how to repair the social and moral order, they might be relevant in the years ahead.

David Brooks writes a column for the New York Times.

Today is Sunday, Aug. 3, the 215th day of 2025. There are 150 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On August 3, 2019, a gunman opened fire at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, resulting in the deaths of 23 people; after surrendering, the gunman told detectives he targeted “Mexicans” and had outlined the plot in a screed published online shortly before the attack.

Also on this date:

In 1492, Christopher Columbus set sail from Palos, Spain, on his first voyage that took him to the present-day Americas.

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In 1852, in America’s first intercollegiate sporting event, Harvard rowed past Yale to win the first Harvard-Yale Regatta.

In 1916, Irish-born British diplomat Roger Casement, a strong advocate of independence for Ireland, was hanged for treason.

In 1936, Jesse Owens of the United States won the first of his four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics as he took the 100-meter sprint.

In 1972, the U.S. Senate ratified the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union.

In 1977, the Tandy Corporation introduced the TRS-80, one of the first widely-available home computers.

In 1981, U.S. air traffic controllers went on strike, seeking pay and workplace improvements (two days later, President Ronald Reagan fired the 11,345 striking union members and barred them from federal employment).

In 2004, the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty opened to visitors for the first time since the 9/11 attacks.

In 2018, Las Vegas police said they were closing their investigation into the Oct. 1, 2017, shooting that left 58 people dead at a country music festival without a definitive answer for why Stephen Paddock unleashed gunfire from a hotel suite onto the concert crowd.

In 2021, New York’s state attorney general said an investigation into Gov. Andrew Cuomo found that he had sexually harassed multiple current and former state government employees; the report brought increased pressure on Cuomo to resign, including pressure from President Joe Biden and other Democrats. (Cuomo resigned a week later.)

Today’s Birthdays:

Football Hall of Fame coach Marv Levy is 100.
Actor Martin Sheen is 85.
Football Hall of Famer Lance Alworth is 85.
Lifestyle guru Martha Stewart is 84.
Film director John Landis is 75.
Actor JoMarie Payton (TV: “Family Matters”) is 75.
Hockey Hall of Famer Marcel Dionne is 74.
Actor John C. McGinley is 66.
Rock singer/guitarist James Hetfield (Metallica) is 62.
Actor Lisa Ann Walter (TV: “Abbott Elementary”) is 62.
Rock musician Stephen Carpenter (Deftones) is 55.
Former NFL quarterback Tom Brady is 48.
Actor Evangeline Lilly is 46.
Olympic swimming gold medalist Ryan Lochte is 41.
Model Karlie Kloss is 33.