David Brooks leaving NY Times for The Atlantic

Even though I taught English for three decades, I still tell people that when I grow up, I want to be David Brooks of the New York Times. Or, I add, perhaps an author like Michael Lewis. As the son of a editor and feature writer, I have been a fan and voracious reader of the "newspaper column" for as long as I can remember. Readers of this blog might recall that I've written about the high esteem I had -- still have -- for the work of legendary Chicago columnist Mike Royko. I feel the same about George Will. 

And, of course, I have always been a fan of David Brooks ... or at least since the late 1990s when I read his work for the Weekly Standard, Wall Street Journal, and eventually the New York Times, where he has been a regular columnist for more than two decades. And, I truly enjoyed and began to follow his writing more regularly after he published a very cool book of pop culture criticism called Bobos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How It Got There. Granted, Brooks definitely has his critics and detractors, and he's by no means perfect, but as an erudite and insightful scholar and cultural commentator, I've always found Brooks to be worth the read.

And, Brooks isn't going away, but he is making a change. This morning Brooks and the New York Times announced that he is leaving his longtime home for a new position at The Atlantic, along with a new podcast and a position at Yale University. Brooks bid farewell to times readers with an extended column, "Time to Say Goodbye." 

It’s been the honor of a lifetime to work here, surrounded by so many astounding journalists. But after 22 wonderful years, I’ve decided to take the exciting and terrifying step of leaving in order to try to build something new. When I came to The Times, I set out to promote a moderate conservative political philosophy informed by thinkers like Edmund Burke and Alexander Hamilton.

When I think about how the world has changed since I joined The Times, the master trend has been Americans’ collective loss of faith — not only religious faith but many other kinds. In 2003, we were still relatively fresh from our victory in the Cold War, and there was more faith that democracy was sweeping the globe, more faith in America’s goodness, more faith in technology and more in one another. As late as 2008, Barack Obama could run a presidential campaign soaring with hopeful idealism.

The post-Cold War world has been a disappointment. The Iraq war shattered America’s confidence in its own power. The financial crisis shattered Americans’ faith that capitalism when left alone would produce broad and stable prosperity. The internet did not usher in an era of deep connection but rather an era of growing depression, enmity and loneliness. Collapsing levels of social trust revealed a comprehensive loss of faith in our neighbors. The rise of China and everything about Donald Trump shattered our serene assumptions about America’s role in the world.

We have become a sadder, meaner and more pessimistic country. One recent historical study of American newspapers finds that public discourse is more negative now than at any time since the 1850s. Large majorities say our country is in decline, that experts are not to be trusted, that elites don’t care about regular people. Only 13 percent of young adults believe America is heading in the right direction. Sixty-nine percent of Americans say they do not believe in the American dream.

Brooks' column is definitely worth reading for the perspective and insight he brings to "what's happened to America" in the twenty-first century. If nothing else, he is a well-educated and broadly talented writer with enough background knowledge to offer a thoughtful long view on the past, present, and "hopeful" future.

Godspeed, David. Looking forward to what comes next.