As we head into the time of the year when many Americans reflect beyond the material benefits that are provided by our capitalist society, I encountered a communication from the self-appointed philosopher, David Brooks of the New York Times.
The title of the column caught my eye: Opinion | Why More People in the World Are Feeling Hopeful (Except Us) – The New York Times. Of course, since Brooks moved to the NYT, he hangs with the crowd that cannot find happiness. They despise America’s material wealth while sipping their lattes and quoting from their brand-new iPhone. After Brooks tells us the rest of the world is going along swimmingly while Americans are not, he slips in the definition of why his cohorts are so disgruntled.
Mr. Brooks tells us about what he obviously sees as an exciting new book coming out which he must have had a chance to read in pre-publication.
Brooks states, “Coming from Brink Lindsey, whose book ‘The Permanent Problem’ will be coming out soon, is that affluence changes expectations. Affluent people want government and society to provide basic physical security as well as meaning and purpose and friendship. When they can’t deliver, people get angry and disillusioned.”
That is a fascinating point to highlight from this book. Let us break it down into two parts. First, everyone I know understands and accepts the first part of that statement that we want our various levels of government in America to provide basic physical security. I would argue that most of the folks I know want more than basic physical security. They want the government to forcefully put a stop to crime in America, particularly in our big cities, and clean up the streets so we don’t have to walk past drugged and deranged individuals or people defecating in public forums.
The question is, does anyone at NYT know why Brooks thinks that way? They seem to be arguing in favor of the criminals and not the crime oppressed. They seem to argue that homeless people have “rights” to defile our streets and make them unsafe. Brooks should have a debate on this with his current fellow sojourners.
The second part of that statement can be considered one of three ways. The first is who is this Lindsey guy to define that as we get more affluent, we depend on government for meaning and purpose and friendship in our lives? The second is this guy is totally accurate that some of the more affluent members of our society are really seeking from government these three things and that is the current divide. And last, if he is right that is the description of how people view their government, that does not describe me, and God forbid those people are ever in charge of anything. Personally, I fall into the third category.
The interesting aspect Lindsey (and Brooks) is leaving out here is that they are attributing the characteristic to affluence but not one’s education level. We all know they are really referring to people who have achieved a higher level of education for the most part in today’s society and have had their minds bludgeoned by the current educational system. They have drifted from a commitment to our Judeo-Christian heritage and have lost a central meaning in life. Thus, they are looking for that. My friend Dennis Prager often quotes G.K. Chesterton: “When people stop believing in God, they don’t believe in nothing; they believe in anything.” I learned a lot from statement.
In the column Brooks adds, “I would say that the most important social trend over the past decade has been the disconnect between our nation’s economic health and its social health.” He goes on to describe the fact that people thrive where people have networks of relationships. People are happy when they have attachment to their community and when they join congregations and regularly attend religious services. He also states the happiest place on earth is not Disneyland, it is either Israel or Poland. The people there are connected and have a higher level of religious observance.
The Beautiful Wife and are attending Jewish High Holiday services with our family. We are connected to our community and are not looking to our government for anything beyond physical security. The people we know are happy with their lives and have a sense of well-being.
There is an easy way for lost individuals to regain their lives. Join us, the happy people, who are not searching for meaning in life; we have it. Stop thinking that some elected official or faceless bureaucrat is going to provide you with anything. It will not happen.
BTW, Happy New Year, L’Shana Tova.
