PRINCETON: Brooks: Cultural shift has permeated politics

By Ellis Liang, Special Writer
   The looming fiscal cliff, $16 trillion debt, and political dishonesty are not problems caused by one specific party in Washington. They are the product of a larger, societal shift toward narcissism, said David Brooks in a lecture at Princeton University on Monday.
   The New York Times columnist originally wrote about this shift in a 2001 article in The Atlantic, “The Organization Kid.” Inspired by his previous visits to Princeton University, the article lamented that competitive nature of college admissions had developed students’ accomplishments at the cost of cultivating their character.
   More than 11 years later, “the meritocracy has become more pure,” said Mr. Brooks. “Students face a different world, and it’s a world where I think the language of achievement has overshadowed the language of virtue.”
   Unfortunately, this ethos has permeated into politics. According to Mr. Brooks, the shift from “a culture of self-effacement to a culture of self-advancement” is the cause of increased spending, rising debt, and greater distrust in government.
   ”[The distrust] is partly because government screwed up, but government in the 1920s wasn’t that great either. Partly it’s because we think we’re smarter than whoever is governing at the time, and we’ve become worse followers,” said Mr. Brooks.
   He also argued that the tendency for people to dismiss opinions other than their own has caused voters to be tolerant of their own party’s dishonesty, resulting in one of the most negative presidential campaigns in history.
   ”We’ve suffered a loss in public virtue. I think we’re less willing to self restrain, less willing to compromise, and much more willing to get caught up in information cocoons,” he said.
   Despite his pessimism about the culture of Washington, Mr. Brooks remains a national optimist.
   ”While I rag on people under 50, it is simultaneously true that people under 35 are leading a tremendous social revival,” said Mr. Brooks, citing decreased rates of crime, domestic violence, and teenage pregnancy.
   ”This is an incredibly wholesome and responsible generation. They’re leading us to an era of social repair.”