Thomas ZimmerAug 23, 2023
Moralizing Nostalgia Leads to Bad History – and Helps the Anti-Democratic Right
 
David Brooks’ “How America Got Mean” offers an ahistorical tale that obscures rather than illuminates – and provides fertile ground for a politics of reaction.
 
A thread, based on my new piece: https://thomaszimmer.substack.com/p/moralizing-nostalgia-leads-to-bad
Moralizing Nostalgia Leads to Bad History – and Helps the Anti-Democratic Right

David Brooks’ “How America Got Mean” offers an ahistorical tale that obscures rather than illuminates – and provides fertile ground for a politics of reaction

Democracy Americana
Show threadThomas ZimmerAug 23, 2023
The story Brooks tells is one of moral decay – where once there was personal virtue and a whole network of institutions dedicated to “moral formation,” there is now a black hole of amoral emptiness that people try to fill by engaging in “moral war” and “tribalism.” 2/
Show threadMichael Gemar
@tzimmer_history Does he include himself in that story of moral decay, having divorced his wife of 27 years to marry his assistant who is 23 years younger than him?
Aug 23, 2023 at 1:20pmWeb
Show threadwonkAug 23, 2023
@michaelgemar @tzimmer_history while writing a book on ethics!