Zero-Sum Us-Against-Them Populism

In the “good old days” (they weren’t) economic progress was nonexistent. Most people lived in extreme poverty, generation after generation. You could only get ahead at someone else’s expense: a zero-sum world.

Gradually a better one emerged. Capitalism, market economics, division of labor, and trade all enabled us to escape the zero-sum trap. If I provide something you need or want, in exchange for something I need or want, we’re both better off.

Thus “the good of others multiplies my own good,” David Brooks wrote in a recent column. This is what sent economic ...