Everything we have, every political thought was begged, borrowed or stolen from elsewhere: from warmed-over Sankarist sloganeering to anti-woke Americanisms to ecstatic Russophilia. But we now arrive at an opportunity to reinvent liberalism -- or at least get it largely right, which is to say, left -- for the next three-quarters of the century.

There's a scene in the cult film Leningrad Cowboys Go America, directed by the Finnish master of deadpan comedy Aki Kaurismäki, that perfectly predicts the chaos that would eventually follow the Cold War.

The film details a Soviet balalaika band dragged to the United States by their autocratic manager, Vladimir, after he is told that Americans will "buy any shit". As the band traverses the country on their way to play a wedding in New Mexico, Vladimir behaves like a communist party boss, which is to say, like an American capitalist.

He slurps Budweiser, chows steak, feeds his band raw onions and exploits their labour for his personal comfort. When the "Revolution" finally comes, it is absurd rather than violent -- Vladimir is bear-hugged, tied up and stuffed in the rear seat of a Cadillac. Sadly, his overthrow is only temporary. Following a title card that reads "Democracy Returns", Vladimir is once again in charge, Bud in hand, his charges grim and hungry.

Leningrad was released in 1989, two years and change before the final fall of the Soviet Union. But Kaurismäki understood very clearly that "democracy" was a mutable term and that liberalism would perhaps prove as inhumane...