image (not from below cited April 6 NYT article)
It is a unique quirk of Brooks's style that in his columns he repeats one word (often as vague as some words can be) over, and over again ...
At a certain point the reader (yours truly) reacts, in the case of Dave's latest portentous contribution to Moral Journalism, where he mentions, insufferably, "people" over 20 times (if I may repeat myself, à la Brooks):
My reader reaction: "Enough of 'people,' Brooks!"
Sample from the poorly edited above-mentioned piece:
People on the first mountain spend a lot of time on reputation management. They ask: What do people think of me? Where do I rank? They’re trying to win the victories the ego enjoys.Question: When Dave is talking about "second-mountain people," is he not talking about ... himself?
These hustling years are also powerfully shaped by our individualistic and meritocratic culture. People operate under this assumption: I can make myself happy. If I achieve excellence, lose more weight, follow this self-improvement technique, fulfillment will follow.
But in the lives of the people I’m talking about — the ones I really admire — something happened that interrupted the linear existence they had imagined for themselves. Something happened that exposed the problem with living according to individualistic, meritocratic values. ...
[S]econd-mountain people are leading us into a new culture. Culture change happens when a small group of people find a better way to live and the rest of us copy them. These second-mountain people have found it. ...
[JB: "Let's talk about something interesting ... let's talk about me" -- as my diplomat father used to warn me about.]
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