David Brooks and the 4 Narratives

2/1/2020--David Brooks writes in a tweet: "There are 4 narratives in American Life. Individualistic competition (current meritocracy), cultural warfare (Trump), class warfare (Sanders), collaborative pluralism (Weavers). Pick one."

This refers to his January 30 column about the future of American politics.

The problem is that it is such blather.

Four? Why not more? Why not less? Trump and Sanders could easily be warfare. Why is individualism its own category? Shouldn't it then be individual/social?

Of course Brooks is a columnist, not a philosopher. So, clarity is not the issue. Nor logic.

But, what is pluralism?

And where is communitarianism--the idea that we are all this together serving a common good?

Yes, people are different and groups are different. So?

Was Dr. King practicing collaborative pluralism? Is economic justice pluralistic or universal?

How about solidarity as a category?

Or Truth?

Back to the drawing board, David.