It will not do simply to reaffirm the post-war European model of democracy, as if the only alternative were totalitarianism of one sort or another. But we should be clear about where we are coming from, and why – and that there was no golden age of European liberal democracy, whether before World War II, in the 1950’s, or at some other mythical point.
单纯强调战后的欧洲民主模式是行不通的，就好像某种形式的集权主义是唯一的选择。但我们应该明确过去的历史和造成这些历史现实的原因——即无论是二战前、20世纪50年代还是其他童话时期欧洲自由民主的黄金期都从未有过。