David Brook on Sanders

People often seem surprised if I say that there are third-rate intellectuals (just as there are third-rate generals).  To illustrate I use David Brooks as an example of a genuine intellectual who doesn’t know his butt-smile from a missile silo. 

In a recent column Brooks compared tRump and Sanders as myth-makers (good myth-making accounting for their political followings). tRump’s myth is that “the coastal elites are greedy stupid people” etc. And Sander’s equally false myth is that corporate elites hoard the nation’s wealth and oppress working families and so on, according to Brooks. 

Brooks wants a different sort of leader, maybe a billionaire like Bloomberg who listens well and grasps the real problems of low income people of color.

Reality check: Sanders’ political myth is that many people lack good health care, can’t afford preschool or college for their children, sleep in vacant lots, have lost faith in a racist government and fear that their planet will soon be baked and burned (where it isn’t under water).  

Sanders is describing reality.

What happens when the super-rich sequester the money and power is that ordinary people, having no other kind of voice, begin to rise up. You see very public discontent,  Black Lives Matter, the moronic Tea Party and so on. 

Five years ago Sanders began to listen to young people. He took their discontent seriously and modified his priorities. Young people and people of color could see that he meant what he said. Now they back him, because they want to live as long as their parents (and in a decent climate and out of debt).