Spring Break
What America Needs More Of Is Civic Duty
Bryan Murphy
Issue date: 11/2/07 Section: Commentary
David Brooks, an editorial columnist for The New York Times, is a rather interesting fellow; maintaining interest, after all, is essentially his job. Not to discredit him, however - he has a genuine knack for spotting trends and truths which would be easy to overlook.
On Tuesday, Brooks ran a column titled "The Happiness Gap". Brooks highlights a number of striking statistics: a Pew Research Center survey found that 86 percent of Americans are satisfied with their jobs and 76 percent are satisfied with their family income and 65 percent are satisfied with their lives in general. Meanwhile, only 25 percent of Americans are satisfied with the state of the nation, only 40 percent think our leaders have a positive influence on the nation, 68 percent of Americans think that the country is on the wrong track and 60 percent believe the lives of their children will be worse than their own.
Basically, the modern American is happy with his life, but incredibly discontent with the state of his government. It's interesting stuff to consider - interesting stuff from which Brooks draws an entirely wrong-headed conclusion; his analysis is that people want the government to step back from their personal lives more than ever before, that they want the government to focus solely on overarching issues of economics, climate and foreign policy. In a nutshell, says Brooks, "today, people want the government to change so their own lives can stay the same. Voters don't want to be transformed; they want to be defended."
It's not that what Brooks thinks is important: what's important is that what Brooks thinks is typical political thinking. We live in an age where it's expected for the government to expect nothing from us. If there's any cloud of darkness in our lives, it must be blowing in from Iraq, China or the melting poles, because it's a certainty that we're happy in our domestic lives.
Except that America's domestic happiness is far from as certain as the Pew Center's 65 percent would have one believe. It's difficult to reconcile the idea of a largely content America with an America where depression is the leading cause of disability - with an America where less than 50 percent of the population has a single close confidante - with an America striving for a sense of meaning and connection through social networks such as Facebook, MySpace, Second Life and World of Warcraft. An America where 10 million people would rather be Troll Shamans then real-world citizens is not exactly a self-satisfied one.
On Tuesday, Brooks ran a column titled "The Happiness Gap". Brooks highlights a number of striking statistics: a Pew Research Center survey found that 86 percent of Americans are satisfied with their jobs and 76 percent are satisfied with their family income and 65 percent are satisfied with their lives in general. Meanwhile, only 25 percent of Americans are satisfied with the state of the nation, only 40 percent think our leaders have a positive influence on the nation, 68 percent of Americans think that the country is on the wrong track and 60 percent believe the lives of their children will be worse than their own.
Basically, the modern American is happy with his life, but incredibly discontent with the state of his government. It's interesting stuff to consider - interesting stuff from which Brooks draws an entirely wrong-headed conclusion; his analysis is that people want the government to step back from their personal lives more than ever before, that they want the government to focus solely on overarching issues of economics, climate and foreign policy. In a nutshell, says Brooks, "today, people want the government to change so their own lives can stay the same. Voters don't want to be transformed; they want to be defended."
It's not that what Brooks thinks is important: what's important is that what Brooks thinks is typical political thinking. We live in an age where it's expected for the government to expect nothing from us. If there's any cloud of darkness in our lives, it must be blowing in from Iraq, China or the melting poles, because it's a certainty that we're happy in our domestic lives.
Except that America's domestic happiness is far from as certain as the Pew Center's 65 percent would have one believe. It's difficult to reconcile the idea of a largely content America with an America where depression is the leading cause of disability - with an America where less than 50 percent of the population has a single close confidante - with an America striving for a sense of meaning and connection through social networks such as Facebook, MySpace, Second Life and World of Warcraft. An America where 10 million people would rather be Troll Shamans then real-world citizens is not exactly a self-satisfied one.
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