"The American social fabric is now so depleted that even if manufacturing jobs miraculously came back we still would not be producing enough stable, skilled workers to fill them. It’s not enough just to have economic growth policies. The country also needs to rebuild orderly communities.
This requires bourgeois paternalism: Building organizations and structures that induce people to behave responsibly rather than irresponsibly and, yes, sometimes using government to do so."
Although I agree with Brooks that jobs in and of themselves will not cause a renaissance in American family values, I question whether "organizations and structures," governmental or otherwise, can bring about responsible behavior.
We live in an era in which narcissism is rampant. Immediate gratification and the glorification of self take precedence over family and community. Our pop stars and politicians, who today manifest this illness to an extreme, are placed on pedestals. Today, America's Narcissist-in-Chief proclaims to anyone prepared to listen (http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2011/12/obama-ill-put-my-record-up-against-any-president/1):
"I would put our legislative and foreign policy accomplishments in our first two years against any president -- with the possible exceptions of Johnson, FDR, and Lincoln -- just in terms of what we've gotten done in modern history."
Solution? Sorry, but I don't have one. Most of us, who do not appear on stage or behind a podium, can only attempt to provide personal examples for our children by way of caring, communal interest and personal sacrifice for the benefit of others.
No comments:
Post a Comment