Thursday, October 1, 2009

Being David Brooks IV

In a recent comment here John O'Leary pointed me to an excellent article written by conservative columnist, David Brooks. Brooks is often very thoughtful and I have written more than a few posts on him. Many times I am in agreement with him and other times I am not. This is a time that I am in complete agreement. The article concludes with this spot on statement:

If there is to be a movement to restore economic values, it will have to cut across the current taxonomies. Its goal will be to make the U.S. again a producer economy, not a consumer economy. It will champion a return to financial self-restraint, large and small.

It will have to take on what you might call the lobbyist ethos — the righteous conviction held by everybody from AARP to the agribusinesses that their groups are entitled to every possible appropriation, regardless of the larger public cost. It will have to take on the self-indulgent popular demand for low taxes and high spending.

A crusade for economic self-restraint would have to rearrange the current alliances and embrace policies like energy taxes and spending cuts that are now deemed politically impossible. But this sort of moral revival is what the country actually needs.
The beauty for me here is the personal accountability and responsibility for each and every one of us. The article requires us of us to each look at ourselves and made hard decisions, real ones. Turnarounds are not easy but turnaround we must on various levels and in various places. We each must begin to hold each other accountable right where we are in our homes, places of worship, neighborhoods, schools, universities, and work environments. This is the cultural change that is needed. Change is never easy, but many times it is most important. This is such a time.

What are your thoughts?

4 comments:

Corrie Howe said...

I like accountability. :-)

Judith Ellis said...

Me too, Corrie. It's self-empowering, isn't it?

septembermom said...

True self-reflection can hopefully lead to the right kind of growth for individuals, communities and our country. Who really wants to look in "that" mirror? It's a brave choice often that has to be made. We are a country full of many individuals in denial of their chosen ignorance to effectively bring about constructive change.

Judith Ellis said...

Beautifully stated, Kelly. Thank you.