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David Brooks

This Month

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris locked in their one debate so far of the campaign.

Why Democrats and Republicans have the same problem

Historically, one majority party has a big vision for the country which a minority party tries to poke holes in. Today, that’s no longer the case.

September

Polls perennially underestimate Donald Trump’s support.

Five reasons Trump could still win (and Harris blows it)

It’s always misleading to follow election news day to day. Elections are driven by a few core realities and if Donald Trump wins in November, it will be due to these five drivers of support for Trumpism.

June

Harvard Business School graduates.

The educated elite is destroying America

Progressive culture has spread from the universities to national life, triggering a backlash that benefits political populists such as Donald Trump.

May

If the polls are to be believed, the EU parliament is about to shift sharply to the right, endangering policies on climate change and Ukraine.

Populism is yet to peak globally

It’s a mistake to analyse the presidential election in America-only terms. Joe Biden and Donald Trump are being tossed about by global political climate extremely favourable for right-wing populists.

February

Joe Biden’s identification with workers has not helped him.

The political failure of Bidenomics

Joe Biden has delivered in spades for ordinary American workers. But it is not enough to get past the gulf that separates them from educated Democrat elites.

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October 2023

Children in the area of the Al-Shati refugee camp earlier this month.

Not a black and white conflict between victims and Nazis

The Israel-Gaza conflict has destroyed certain assumptions about the world order and pushed us closer to nihilism.

August 2023

For many people, trauma became their source of identity.

Therapy culture has turned people into fragile narcissists

Maturity is achieved by getting out of your own selfish point of view and developing the ability to absorb, understand and inhabit the views of others.

August 2022

Friendships that span different social classes can not only make you happier; they can make you richer.

Why rich friends are so important to success

Friendships that span different social classes can not only make you happier; they can make you richer.

September 2021

Boat owners in Florida fly the flag for Donald Trump.

How the ‘bourgeois bohemians’ broke America

The creative class was supposed to foster progressive values and economic growth. Instead, we got resentment, alienation and endless political dysfunction.

August 2021

Joe Biden: are the progressive wing really going to sink his infrastructure package?

Why Joe Biden is on the right track

Beyond the noisy Democrat progressives and Republican nativists, America’s two parties are still producing bipartisan results.

May 2021

Wokeness is now sign of elite membership.

This is how wokeness will end

Woke jargon has become a passport to the top of society. But it is also being turned from protest to product.

October 2020

Kamala Harris might have found the thread through this election.

Why the Democrats are winning this race

The Democrats are cleverly fighting the least ideological election of recent times. They are now the party of safety and order.

August 2020

Former US President Barack Obama is displayed on a video monitor during the virtual Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The Democrats who rose to the moment

Obama, Sanders, and Warren spoke not for an election but for a time of crisis in American history. Bill Clinton should have stayed at home.

May 2020

At Gettysburg, Lincoln crisply described why the fallen had sacrificed their lives — to show that a nation "dedicated to the proposition that all men are equal" can long endure.

I have a dream of a real leader

America's unlettered, self-centred President doesn't have the character-forming spiritual, and historical resources to strengthen resolve to endure the pandemic.

December 2019

Capitalism works because its better than socialism at figuring out what people want.

Once was a socialist until reality bit

The world is too complicated too be planned by socialists. But we still need a fairer capitalism.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/by/david-brooks-p4yvoy