David Brooks on how America got mean
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Good article. It’s in Atlantic but I hope this works.
https://qoshe.com/the-atlantic/david-brooks/how-america-got-mean/164092025
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I'll grant that an honest attempt, for a never-Trumper, to understand the Trump support perspective is a high bar. But it still says something about a person, especially one who wants to be some sort of thought leader, that they can't meet that bar. Brooks is good at being measured and reasonable, until he's cornered into baring his fangs when the political landscape chooses a candidate he finds disgusting. He's a tedious poser, but can string thoughts together, as long as he's had his nap that day.
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To me, I agree with this.
"We inhabit a society in which people are no longer trained in how to treat others with kindness and consideration. Our society has become one in which people feel licensed to give their selfishness free rein. "
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To me, I agree with this.
"We inhabit a society in which people are no longer trained in how to treat others with kindness and consideration. Our society has become one in which people feel licensed to give their selfishness free rein. "
@taiwan_girl said in David Brooks on how America got mean:
To me, I agree with this.
"We inhabit a society in which people are no longer trained in how to treat others with kindness and consideration. Our society has become one in which people feel licensed to give their selfishness free rein. "
I read somewhere, can’t recall when or where mind you, that an armed society is a polite society.
That just might be the solution to address the author’s woes.
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To me, I agree with this.
"We inhabit a society in which people are no longer trained in how to treat others with kindness and consideration. Our society has become one in which people feel licensed to give their selfishness free rein. "
@taiwan_girl said in David Brooks on how America got mean:
people are no longer trained in how to treat others with kindness and consideration.
That is definitely not true.
When it comes to bleeding hearts this country has never been softer.
people feel licensed to give their selfishness free rein.
people
That is kind of a loose term.
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The technology story: Social media is driving us all crazy..
Yeah…
The sociology story: We’ve stopped participating in community organizations and are more isolated
Church. The word you are looking for here is Church. And yes. Though the bigger problem is getting away from God.
The economy story: High levels of economic inequality and insecurity have left people afraid, alienated, and pessimistic.
No, chalk this one up to Social Media. The number of people in middle income I moving into upper income is twice the number of middle income moving into lower income. At the same time, the general quality of life for those in the lower income brackets is significantly higher than it was 50 years ago. Yes, there is an extremely high percentage of perceived wealth that is concentrated within a a small group of people, but that’s mostly a result of so much wealth being generated. The whole income inequality issue is a Univariate Fallacy that is being pushed specifically to cause discord. And it’s succeeding, but it’s still a result of the social media problem.
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Well said LD.
People often think the situation is worse than it actually is, because they are inundated by incessant negative news from across the country and the world… humans did not have to digest that type of fire hose information avalanche until recently. Social media (or the internet’s instant information of everything) makes everyone addicted, jealous, judgmental, impatient, and ironically WAY less connected. Keep things local, be a good neighbor, work hard, be kind, it’s really not that bad out there.
