Preface
The question at the head of this article is worth asking, but I do not pretend that this article is anything other than a superficial answer, one moreover which drew heavily on previous writings. It was originally commissioned by The Plough Quarterly, but that magazine’s UK editor told me in schoolmasterly fashion that it was not up to the standard of some of my previous work (I enjoyed that “some”) and asked me to rewrite it. Since I had more pressing personal concerns in January 2022, I declined the opportunity. As so often before, Daniel Johnson came to the rescue. I include the essay here only because there are some things that I say in it which I have not said elsewhere, and which perhaps have some value. But it is a marginal case.