David Brooks insists that America is spiritually sick, and that its politics cannot be fixed until the illness is healed. Americans have become too individualistic, he says. True happiness lies in the old-fashioned values of family, patriotism, community, and service, not the discovery of a better self.
Ignore how ridiculously pompous this is. Leave aside the fact that Brooks had nothing to say on this subject when Reagan ruled and greed was good. Disregard Brooks’ failure to support Obama’s efforts to bring the country together. The question for today is, is he right about our politics?
No. The problem with the American political system is that we no longer have a responsible center-right party. That is due to a variety of factors, including the rise of Fox News, the failures of George W. Bush, and legal decisions on social issues that have made reactionaries feel like strangers in their own country. Without a responsible center-right party (i.e., one in which CDs have considerable influence), consensus is impossible, and progress is extremely difficult.
Will the Democrats respond by rejecting the center-left and becoming the mirror image of the GOP? We’ll know in two years.