Watching the Netflix series “The Leopard” relieved me of some of my misery over today’s politics.

“The Leopard” reminded me that, in a sense, Trump’s populism is an extension of the revolutions of the 19^th century. The French Commune of 1871, the Revolt of the Masses, the Syndicalists. The uprising of the peasants can sometimes produce a strong man who leads, then crushes, the movement, a Napoleon, a Mussolini. The element of nationalism doesn’t always fit with the anti-corporate working-class origins of these revolutions, but together, they upturned the remaining feudalism of Europe in the 19^th century.

Sicily was taken, and Italy unified. A strong man – but Trump? Really? – may be needed to break through the sclerotic pace of government under our massive and bureaucratic system. Too bad it isn’t a strongman like Lincoln or FDR, someone who also holds to principles of liberal democracy and a vision of the future. Lincoln and FDR had real wars to justify their rule-breaking, and were fundamentally decent men.

What’s the answer? It’s no answer, but the life of the signorial family in “The Leopard” seems to hold, for me, the better possibilities of our human condition. The orphaned nephew was adopted, raised, loved, and set free to join the revolution. But the answer wasn’t the revolution, Le Risorgimento. And it wasn’t holding onto an ancient regime of luxury in the face of a changing world. It was holding to decency when it counted, ransoming the nephew from execution with family land – a sacrificial bribe – while maintaining a life of traditions as long as love and family held. Or how the beauty who later married that nephew helped . . .but wait, that’s a spoiler.