Make it better David Brooks
It was nice to read David Brooks’ latest column, “Relax, We’ll Be Fine.” Amid all the discussion of American decline, it is nice to be reminded that America still leads the world in productivity and innovation. Brooks concludes:
In sum, the U.S. is on the verge of a demographic, economic and social revival, built on its historic strengths. The U.S. has always been good at disruptive change. It’s always excelled at decentralized community-building. It’s always had that moral materialism that creates meaning-rich products. Surely a country with this much going for it is not going to wait around passively and let a rotten political culture drag it down.
I was glad to see Brooks address the “rotten political culture” that has been at the center of the national debate, and central to Brooks’ own columns. But it’s instructive to see how Brooks has handled our core national weakness — wishing it away on the hopes of generalized national greatness. Much like a fad diet program, we’re led to believe that everything will be alright and we need not change course ourselves; the success of America as a concept will pull us through hard times.
I agree with Brooks that the United States canmaintain it’s position as a global leader in the near future, but if that’s to be the case it seems that an ethic of action is called for, not an ethic of optimism. Brooks has a national platform equaled by few others. If he’s serious about heading off political stagnation, his message of optimism must be tempered the very real possibility that continued inaction could lead to decline.
-John
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