After so long in charge, liberals, of all people, should have seen the backlash coming. As a set of beliefs that emerged at the start of the 19th century to oppose both the despotism of absolute monarchy and the terror of revolution, liberalism warns that uninterrupted power corrupts. Privilege becomes self-perpetuating. Consensus stifles creativity and initiative. In an ever-shifting world, dispute and argument are not just inevitable; they are welcome because they lead to renewal. 

backlash：急激な逆戻り
beliefs ：信念
despotism：専制政治
monarchy：君主制
uninterrupted：連続した
corrupt：堕落させる
self-perpetuating：永続的な
Consensus：一致した意見
stifles：を抑える
ever-shifting：絶え間無く変わる
renewal：復活・再生

What is more, liberals have something to offer societies struggling with change. In the 19th century, as today, old ways were being upended by relentless technological, economic, social and political forces. People yearned for order. The illiberal solution was to install someone with sufficient power to dictate what was best—by slowing change if they were conservative, or smashing authority if they were revolutionary. You can hear echoes of that in calls to “take back control”, as well as in the mouths of autocrats who, summoning an angry nationalism, promise to hold back the cosmopolitan tide. 

upended：ひっくり返す
yearned：に憧れる
summoning：奮い立たせる
cosmopolitan：国際的な

Liberals came up with a different answer. Rather than being concentrated, power should be dispersed, using the rule of law, political parties and competitive markets. Rather than putting citizens at the service of a mighty, protecting state, liberalism sees individuals as uniquely able to choose what is best for themselves. Rather than running the world through warfare and strife, countries should embrace trade and treaties. 

mighty：強国
protecting：保護する
uniquely：独自に

自由主義者は強大で保護主義の国家よりも彼らにとって何が一番いいのかを彼ら自身が選ぶことができるようにすることだと考えている。

Such ideas have imprinted themselves on the West—and, despite Mr Trump’s flirtation with protectionism, they will probably endure. But only if liberalism can deal with its other problem: the loss of faith in progress. Liberals believe that change is welcome because, on the whole, it is for the better. Sure enough, they can point to how global poverty, life expectancy, opportunity and peace are all improving, even allowing for strife in the Middle East. Indeed, for most people on Earth there has never been a better time to be alive. 

imprinted：刷り込む
flirtation：一時的関心
endure：トランプの保護主義に抵抗する
only if ：の場合にのみ
loss of faith：トランプへの信頼の喪失
on the whole：あらゆる点を考慮すれば
Sure enough：予想した通り・確実に
alive：この世で

Large parts of the West, however, do not see it that way. For them, progress happens mainly to other people. Wealth does not spread itself, new technologies destroy jobs that never come back, an underclass is beyond help or redemption, and other cultures pose a threat—sometimes a violent one. 

underclass ：底辺層
redemption：救済
pose：齎らす

If it is to thrive, liberalism must have an answer for the pessimists, too. Yet, during those decades in power, liberals’ solutions have been underwhelming. In the 19th century liberal reformers met change with universal education, a vast programme of public works and the first employment rights. Later, citizens got the vote, health care and a safety net. After the second world war, America built a global liberal order, using bodies such as the UN and the IMF to give form to its vision. 

underwhelming：印象を薄くする
universal education：普通教育

Nothing half so ambitious is coming from the West today. That must change. Liberals must explore the avenues that technology and social needs will open up. Power could be devolved from the state to cities, which act as laboratories for fresh policies. Politics might escape sterile partisanship using new forms of local democracy. The labyrinth of taxation and regulation could be rebuilt rationally. Society could transform education and work so that “college” is something you return to over several careers in brand new industries. The possibilities are as yet unimagined, but a liberal system, in which individual creativity, preferences and enterprise have full expression, is more likely to seize them than any other. 

Nothing half：半分どころではない・少しも〜ではない
devolved：譲りわたす
sterile：新鮮味のない
partisanship：盲目的支持
 labyrinth：迷路・難解なこと

The dream of reason
After 2016, is that dream still possible? Some perspective is in order. This newspaper believes that Brexit and a Trump presidency are likely to prove costly and harmful. We are worried about today’s mix of nationalism, corporatism and popular discontent. However, 2016 also represented a demand for change. Never forget liberals’ capacity for reinvention. Do not underestimate the scope for people, including even a Trump administration and post-Brexit Britain, to think and innovate their way out of trouble. The task is to harness that restless urge, while defending the tolerance and open-mindedness that are the foundation stones of a decent, liberal world. 

perspective：総体的な見方
corporatism：大企業の有する力や影響
reinvention：改革
defending：擁護する
decent：きちんとした

自由主義が保護主義に負けているということはない。BrexitもTrumpも自由主義の流れに逆らっているが、自由主義者はそれに負けてなならない。人々は愛国主義とか、大企業優先のやり方とか、人々の不満が輻輳しているが、現在の課題に対してよく考え、革新していかなければならない。それは自由主義の考えを持っているからできるのであって、保護主義であってはならない。

BrexitもMay首相がどこかで方向を変えるのだろうと思っている。今のままでは経済にしても政治にしてもいいことはない。Trump政権ができれば今までTrumpが言ってきた保護主義に基づいた政策はそう長くは続かない。確かに、我々は自由主義を標榜し、それに邁進していくことによってしか、世界の繁栄はない。中東問題もTrumpとPutinは積極的に協力して、今の戦乱を解消していくだろう。

日曜日。みなさん。あけましておめでとう。昨日は海野塾があった。昼食は殆どのお店が休みだったが、とんかつのお店だけ開いていたビデ、そこで昼食をとった。懇親会はいつもの中華料理屋はお休みだったので、サイゼリアで行った。週二回、忘年会をやっているようだった。今日は元旦だが、いつもと同じパターンだ。特に今年は日本の精神の講演を予定しているので、原稿の準備が大変だ。四書、老子、荘子をまとめなければならない。１６セット６００枚だ。気が遠くなりそうだ。今日はそれだけだ。研修資料のレビューのアポが入るかもしれない。ではまた明日。