“We shall repeal the twentieth century”: That is how self-identified “radical reactionary” Murray Rothbard described the Right’s vision in 1992.

That really is the core of Trumpism as a political project: Roll back whatever racial and social progress has been achieved over the past century and a half.

The realization of how fragile democratizing progress is should make us appreciate and celebrate it more, not less.

Only if we value the progress that has been achieved do we understand what we must defend.

The lesson from U.S. history, if there is one, is not that progress is impossible. There has been tremendous progress at times!

But we must not assume directionality in history. There is no arc, there is no linear progression, no utopian end goal we are somehow destined to reach.

We need to accept that things can change – in either direction: It really could get much, much worse. But it could also get better.

There is nothing inevitable about either doom or progress. We are neither fated nor guaranteed to experience the status quo for all eternity.

This realization is deeply unsettling: There is no moral arc of the universe, progress can always be reversed, victories are never guaranteed to last.

But it should also be empowering and, at the very least, create the sense of urgency that is needed to propel America forward.