LJUBLJANA — My duty as a philosopher is to spoil the ecstatic sense of relief that has followed the US midterm elections. Yes, at first glance, we all triumphed: not only did Donald Trump’s party suffer a spectacular defeat, but Trump even accepted his loss and promised to work with the incoming Democratic Congress. We were spared the state of emergency or canceled results that so many had feared. Still, my basic position hasn’t changed since 2016, when I told an interviewer that I would vote for Trump. The man may be absolutely “disgusting,” I explained, but his victory would trigger a “big awakening,” delivering a fundamental shock to the American political system and forcing long-needed realignments. I preferred Trump to Hillary Clinton, a notorious war hawk with deep ties to big banks, not because he was any better, but because he could be counted on to generate a fierce public response. You can well imagine the brutal attacks that my stance provoked. Still, I think I was right, albeit too early. My own view is that this decade-long obsession with Trump reflects his e