Sam Spade at Starbucks - DAVID BROOKS - NY Times
"it’s hard not to feel inspired by all these idealists,
but their service religion does have some shortcomings"
"That’s a delusion. You can cram all the nongovernmental
organizations you want into a country, but if there is no rule of law
and if the ruling class is predatory then your achievements won’t add
up to much."
"We ought not jettison compassion, of course. Like any
of the human sentiments, however, it needs to be cultivated and
constrained by reflective deliberation about the world and our
obligations within it."
April 19, 2012 - Wanting Compassion vs. Doing Compassion
New York Times columnist David Brooks admires today’s young activists
for their commitment to compassion and care while fighting issues like
poverty, famine, and sex trafficking. But he also thinks young activists
don’t have the whole picture of how society works.
|