David Brooks

Education is not Free (-Market) (or is it?)

Adam Smith wrote two books. In one, the Theory of Moral Sentiments, he discusses the need and ability of individuals in society to be sympathetic to others. In the other, The Wealth of Nations, he discusses how self-interest benefits society. Some have seen a contradiction in these two outlooks. James Otteson titles …

Introverts and Presidential Candidates

I picked up Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, by Susan Cain, not because it would have any bearing on writing Mind&Politics, but simply because I’m an introvert and thought it would be interesting. She writes that sometime around the beginning of the 1900’s, we went …

Bored With Muddling Through

David Brooks was disappointed in President Obama’s State of the Union Address. I heard him talk about it on Shields&Brooks on the News Hour. In Sunday’s column, Hope, but Not Much Change, he describes the policies that Obama presented as “mere appetizers,” and wishes to see something big to match the …

Bored With Muddling Through

The Left Side of Conservative

David Brooks, as usual, writes an interesting column, this one on Free Market Socialism.It’s clear why true conservatives look somewhat askance at Mr. Brooks. Viewing it in Lakoffian terms, we see Mr. Brooks straddling the divide between the conservative strict father methaphor and the liberal nurturant parent one. The column praises …

Wealth over Wages: Tax Fairness and the Romney Return

David Brooks writes an interesting article on Mitt Romney’s heritage in a recent column, The Wealth Issue. He writes that Mitt Romney’s qualities come, in part, from his heritage, including not just his family upbringing, but his grandparentage as well. Good parenting engenders good human beings. I am reminded of George …

Work Hard and Play by the Rules

David Brooks, in his column The Spirit of Enterprise, attributes the wealth of nations like Germany and the US to their habits, values and social capital. “It’s because many people in these countries…believe in a simple moral formula: effort should lead to reward as often as possible.” One reader writing in …

The 77% Karma

I know it’s no longer a new article (October 16, 2010), but I just read and want to comment around Jonathan Haidt’s What the Tea Partiers Really Want, from The Wall Street Journal. Karma is the word he thinks describes how tea partiers and conservatives view the world. “The law …