I haven’t generally been a big fan of David Brooks but his opinion piece today stands out in my mind as the best I’ve ever read from him. It’s well written but is especially praiseworthy for its original thought, depth and conclusions.
It’s not one of those pieces where an excerpt or two will be enough to summarize the entirety of the author’s point. I urge you to read the article for yourself (it’s not terribly long). Here’s just a little to lend a clue on why I found it so praiseworthy:
Occasionally you can see eternity in a speck of time, and occasionally you can see the logic of an entire historic moment in one event. And so it was with the Group of 7 summit meeting last weekend in Quebec...
The Group of 7 is an organization built in a high-trust age. It’s based on the idea that the member nations have shared values, have shared historical accomplishments, have a carefully nurtured set of relationships and live in a community of general friendship. Canada and the U.S. are neighbors and friends.
But in the low-trust Trumpian worldview, values don’t matter; there are only interests. In the Trumpian worldview, friendship is just a con that other people try to pull on you before they screw you over. The low-trust style of politics is realism on steroids.
… Wolves perceive the world as a war of all against all and seek to create the world in which wolves thrive, which is a world without agreed-upon rules, without restraining institutions, norms and etiquette.
Here’s the link (note that the title is an understatement):
Opinion: Donald Trump Is Not Playing by Your Rules