In this piece, conservative (!) New York Times columnist, David Brooks, offers a surprisingly insightful reflection on the need to develop a new “national story” that responds to the real pain in poor and working communities in this country.
We’ll probably need a new national story. Up until now, America’s story has been some version of the rags-to-riches story, the lone individual who rises from the bottom through pluck and work. But that story isn’t working for people anymore, especially for people who think the system is rigged.
I don’t know what the new national story will be, but maybe it will be less individualistic and more redemptive. Maybe it will be a story about communities that heal those who suffer from addiction, broken homes, trauma, prison and loss, a story of those who triumph over the isolation, social instability and dislocation so common today.
You can read the full piece online here: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/29/opinion/if-not-trump-what.html?_r=0