David Brooks has been having a bad run of things of late. First, last week’s filler piece, now today’s silly, uneducated drivel.

For instance, any assertion that Ben Franklin is an example of someone “not corrupted by wealth” is to ignore much of his personal conduct, and virtually all of his last two decades. In addition, the old saw blaming the woes of the current underclass (i.e. ‘not me’) on “Social norms, the invisible threads that guide behavior, have deteriorated” is ignorant to the point of being ahistorical. Folks were saying the same thing in the time of Plato. Yes, the current profusion of debt is as lamentable as it is pervasive, but that sort of social ill, asymmetrically perpetrated on the less-fortunate (by the faceless, nameless thing that is Culture), is no different in category than the bread riots that led to the French Revolution.

I do like the way he discusses the lottery (something our fair Governor wants to increase to amend our current budget shortfall), but to tout programs that would “…raise public consciousness about debt the way the anti-smoking activists did with their campaign” is to ignore, at least partially, the disproportionate amount that lower-income folks still smoke! If one has any given education campaign, the people at whom the message is most targeted are the one’s least likely to listen.

Edit: Apparently the NYT is, generally, having a strong day of traffiking in stereotypes. Sad.

And after all that, a cool aerial shot of Comb Ridge. I’m pretty sure the road pictured is the UT-163 between Mexican Hat and Bluff.

Lastly, RAAM has been rolling through town in the last few days. I got to cheer on two middle-pack soloists as I drove up to work this morning. Always a nice way to start the day.