It was thought provoking to read David Brooks’ “The moral challenge of Trumpism” (Herald, Dec. 1). For quite a while, Brooks has presented well-developed, understandable perspectives from the conservative point of view. Over the years, we have seen him grow as a columnist, commentator on society and defender of the traditional conservative point of view. Unlike his predecessor William F. Buckley, Brooks seems more in tune with the lives of the average citizen of the United States, the daily challenges and struggles of working-class Americans, and the excesses of the ultra-wealthy. Brooks presents a values system that is upright and admirable.
For over a decade, I would use Brooks’ articles in college history and humanities classes to prompt discussions. I would distribute copies to students and vigorous debates would ensue about the topics he covered. It is important to consider conservative, democratic, libertarian and other points of view in any discussion of social, political and even economic issues. As Brooks describes in this article though, today’s brand of conservatism has gone off the rails and become something unrecognizable to Buckley or even George Will.
Many of the activists of the 1960s and ’70s worked diligently to reform our society and government. Civil rights; voting rights; women’s rights; reproductive rights; economic and racial equality; the end to senseless, illegal foreign wars; care for our planet; environmental awareness; and union rights were many of the issues we were striving for, trying to reform our system and develop a more perfect union. Renowned activists such as Tom Hayden, Gloria Steinem and Martin Luther King were trying to make the system better, not tear it down.
As Brooks observes, the current MAGA morality and mindset is to tear down all government institutions, our public schools, professions and the standards of excellence passed down in these institutions. Instead of promoting excellence passed down “by displaying the civic virtues required by our Constitution, by living up to what it means to be a good teacher or nurse or, if they are Christians, by imitating ... Christ,” the MAGA ethic is totally anti-institutional. It promotes contempt for institutions, immorality, dishonesty, grift, inequality, homophobia and xenophobia, as well as disregard for norms, rules, restraint and deference.
Witnessing the battle over passing a budget bill to keep the government operating through the holidays, we have already observed the effect of a new Trump administration, staffed with the ultra-rich, MAGA acolytes and anti-institutionalists. As we witness more and more millionaires and billionaires being nominated for Cabinet and advisory positions, and the titans of commerce trekking to Mar-a-Lago, the fear is that most governmental policies and decisions will focus on benefiting the top 1% of society. And, we had the unelected, richest man in the world condemning and attempting to scuttle the bipartisan efforts of Congress to pass a funding bill.
We have seen oligarchs around the world trying to squelch democracy, and now that trend has reached our shores. Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address – “government of the people, by the people, for the people” – has sadly morphed into “of the few, by the few, for the few.” The traditional conservative viewpoint that has been the foundation of the Republican Party from Lincoln through Eisenhower, and even George H.W. Bush, seems to no longer exist. Even during the turbulent 1960s and ’70s, the left was trying to improve our system, not tear it down.
Throughout our history, progress has occurred within the system, but this new age of Trumpism seems hell-bent on destroying much of what has been achieved. Brooks warns us that an administration led by such self-serving, corrupt and morally challenged forces will not end well.
Gene Orr, M.Ed., is a retired educator with 43 years of experience teaching social studies and history in middle school, high school and college in Durango. He lives in Kline.
