Thanks to the prevalence of instantaneous globalized news and a range of social media apps on the phones we carry around on us at every waking moment, those who prefer to reverse progressive policies can organize themselves just as effectively as those who want to expand them. The first counter-progressive protest was the so-called yellow vest movement that began in France in 2018 with anger at the imposition of a carbon tax on middle-class workers. It quickly spread to other European countries. The Canadian truckers have likewise inspired working people in many countries who feel socially and economically constrained by pandemic restrictions.

The best way for progressives to prevent such sentiments from snowballing into a movement that actually could win power is to take an approach rooted in humility. Talk to the protesters, listen to their grievances, promise to discuss options for addressing them with elected and appointed officials.

Such humility will come naturally to a politician hoping to represent the broadest possible coalition of working-class voters. It will appear impossible to someone convinced that every citizen of a certain socioeconomic stratum ought rightly to be an automatic ally and contributor to the present-day iteration of the progressive political project.