The problem is, alas, that real life isn’t a book or a Hollywood movie . Indeed, 2024 has been a damn good year for bullies. Russian President Vladimir Putin is winning in Ukraine, albeit at a frightful cost. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s illiberal brand of populism is on a roll in Europe. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is still in power in Israel, despite exposing his country to Hamas’s attack in October 2023, presiding over a genocidal campaign that has taken tens of thousands of innocent Palestinian lives, and an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court. And U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is returning to the White House, with the world’s richest bully—Elon Musk—at his side (for now).

In books and movies, it’s easy to predict what will happen to a bully. They will torment the hero for a while, but eventually someone will stand up to them, expose their weaknesses, and deliver their comeuppance. You’ve seen it repeatedly: Harry Potter humiliates Draco Malfoy and defeats Voldemort; Marty McFly bests Biff not once but thrice; Cinderella gets the handsome Prince Charming and her mean stepsisters get nothing; Tom Brown triumphs over Flashman, Elizabeth Bennet defies Lady Catherine de Bourgh and wins Mr. Darcy’s love. This familiar plotline is a comforting reminder that good eventually triumphs over evil.

In books and movies, it’s easy to predict what will happen to a bully. They will torment the hero for a while, but eventually someone will stand up to them, expose their weaknesses, and deliver their comeuppance. You’ve seen it repeatedly: Harry Potter humiliates Draco Malfoy and defeats Voldemort; Marty McFly bests Biff not once but thrice; Cinderella gets the handsome Prince Charming and her mean stepsisters get nothing; Tom Brown triumphs over Flashman, Elizabeth Bennet defies Lady Catherine d