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comment by user-inactivated
user-inactivated  ·  2232 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: In which David Brooks binges on ketamine and decides millennials are frogs

Serious question. Is there a criticism here, other than his somewhat awkward metaphor? I mean, fuck, I'm full of awkward metaphors. He's trying to say something positive here though and I think he has some points.

    Their lives are examples of the power of love to slice through tribal identity. If you start with the Amphibian approach - that every new and different person you meet is first of all my brother, my sister - then the concept of difference changes. The emotional atmosphere is transformed.

I mean, he's no Desomnd Tutu, but his heart seems to be in the right place on this one.





ThurberMingus  ·  2232 days ago  ·  link  ·  

To me the humor is in how his worldview clashes with what he looks at. Got lost in the trees, trying to find the forest.

First he writes some articles kinda friendly to less conservative ideas, then he writes some articles explaining how masking those ideas conservative is the best way to implement them, because.

That's my take, anyway.

kleinbl00  ·  2232 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    Serious question. Is there a criticism here, other than his somewhat awkward metaphor?

I don't care how old and white you are, the idea of a "melting pot" is hundreds of years older and whiter than you.

    One thing that’s hit me over the head right away is how many young adults have interesting backgrounds — one is part French, part Costa Rican. Another is a conservative lesbian from the rural Midwest who came to study in the urban East.

This is effectively LolBrooks going "hey you guise like young people are interesting and shit" because he just learned that. It's such an appallingly elitist, cloistered viewpoint that it's like George Bush and the grocery scanner except true.

user-inactivated  ·  2232 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    This is effectively LolBrooks going "hey you guise like young people are interesting and shit" because he just learned that.

To be fair to Brooks, and I'm being serious here when I'm saying "to be fair to Brooks," no one is ever too old to make positive discoveries. That he is enthusiastic enough to want to write about the issue and show it to the world, shows he's either A) somewhat sincere in his thoughts or B) finding positive encouragement to try and think this way. Naive or not, cloistered or not, elitist or not, awkward metaphors or not, he's trying here, and that's something to be not only encouraged, but celebrated.

kleinbl00  ·  2232 days ago  ·  link  ·  

It's not that you're wrong?

It's that a staff columnist for the New York Times must necessarily be held to a higher standard than your uncle Joe.

user-inactivated  ·  2232 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Oh man. I wish I kept my original bit. I started with "You know, if you told me this morning that I was gonna take some time out of my day to defend an opinionist, I couldn't really see it happening. But here I am."

tacocat  ·  2232 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    That he is enthusiastic enough to want to write about the issue

Then he should get a Tumblr

user-inactivated  ·  2232 days ago  ·  link  ·  

He'd be eaten alive.

tacocat  ·  2232 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I'd subscribe to David Brooks reacts to ordinary things