Merz’s remarks on Iran reveal a deeper habit in Western politics, reducing complex conflicts to moral labels that travel faster than reason If you want to discern the spirit of a ruling class, you only have to listen to its pronouncements. Occasionally, ostensibly casual utterances by a political figurehead illuminate far more than the position they were meant to clarify. Such moments can offer a rare glimpse into the habits of mind through which an entire political class interprets the world,