Althouse: "We have to fight the dangerous streams in culture, the consumerism and narcissism and me-ism that erode the borders of our moral culture."

June 17, 2012

"We have to fight the dangerous streams in culture, the consumerism and narcissism and me-ism that erode the borders of our moral culture."

"We can’t put shallow celebrity before core decency. We have to have a deeper faith in the human spirit. As they say, he who has the heart to help has the right to complain."

Said Cory Booker, interviewed by Maureen Dowd (because her column today is about the decline of character and because Booker once ran into a burning house to save a neighbor).

34 comments:

ricpic said...: My core decency demands that I buy a Stauer watch and a Territory Ahead pullover TODAY!; 6/17/12, 10:40 AM
tiger said...: DRTA but...

I'm middle-aged and have been reading about the down-fall of the American culture for over 40 years and yet here we are.

Have some things gotten worse? Yeah but we still keep going, still keep finding our way. And it needs to be pointed out that even with our problems we are flooded by foreigners wanting to move here.

But hey! maybe that's because American culture IS a cess pool...; 6/17/12, 10:43 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: There is little in what you quoted I don't already stand for. Except for the diss on consumerism (What is the problem people have with buying things?) but the rest is accurate:

Because of the Boomers, the American character has been eroded, and we need to get back to it.

Again - something I tend to represent.

That black men are spokesmen - while white guys are mostly still lost in the weeds - is interesting, I think. To be applauded, for sure, but there certainly aren't enough of us black guys and the white guys need to, both, snap out of it and give us some help.

This constant, jealous, bitch-assed nagging isn't helping anybody,...; 6/17/12, 11:04 AM
SGT Ted said...: Just another excuse to attack capitalism and liberty from the NYT.

We have to fight the dangerous streams in culture, the consumerism and narcissism and me-ism that erode the borders of our moral culture.

A call to collectivism with the 'narcissist and me-ism' charge of too much personal liberty. Nevermind how much collectivism and redistributionism have eroded the moral borders of personal responsibility and making your own way in life to one of entitlement and bringing about the gimme, gimme, gimme attitude she now decries.

Spending your money how you like is 'consumerism', one of the Deadly Sins of leftists. An implied. No reason given as to why its bad. Usually coming from someone who has the latest i-Phone and i-Pad.

We can’t put shallow celebrity before core decency.

Complaints about the celebrity culture coming from those that celebrate it the most: big city liberals.

We have to have a deeper faith in the human spirit.

They talk about how we need to have a deeper faith, but don't you dare bring up religion or how our moral values largely stem from adherence to religion and religious ideas.

As they say, he who has the heart to help has the right to complain.

Because they care so much more than the rest of us, they get to tell us what to do. They will use the State as the vehicle, rather than moral pursuasion.; 6/17/12, 11:10 AM
edutcher said...: Gee, sounds like he doesn't like Barry.; 6/17/12, 11:17 AM
rhhardin said...: Dowd is for shallow decency and core celebrity.; 6/17/12, 11:21 AM
Tim said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/17/12, 11:30 AM
Tim said...: The more interesting quote is this one:

“Most Americans continue to think of their lives in moral terms; they want to live good lives,” said James Davison Hunter, a professor of religion, culture and social theory at the University of Virginia and the author of “The Death of Character.” “But they are more uncertain about what the nature of the good is. We know more, and as a consequence, we no longer trust the authority of traditional institutions who used to be carriers of moral ideals.

We used to experience morality as imperatives. The consequences of not doing the right thing were not only social, but deeply emotional and psychological. We couldn’t bear to live with ourselves. Now we experience morality more as a choice that we can always change as circumstances call for it. We tend to personalize our ideals. And what you end up with is a nation of ethical free agents."

Ironic, isn't it, that Dowd fails to recognize her ideology, contemporary liberalism, bears almost exclusive blame for this condition?; 6/17/12, 11:32 AM
Robert Cook said...: I'd love to see how the Althouse reg'lars would shit all over the Sermon on the Mount were it delivered today by a contemporary analog to Jesus.

Heck, Jesus himself had his own version of scorning "consumerism" in his casting out of the merchants and moneychangers from the temple, and in his admonishments to his followers to rid themselves of their possessions if they would follow him. And don't forget his warning that rich men wouldn't get into heaven, (the whole "camel/eye of the needle" thing, not a mysterious zen koan but a blunt statement, which today would be expressed as "a rich man will enter heaven when monkeys fly out of my ass").

I'd be most curious to see the sophomoric insult names that would be devised here for him, by those as wrong about as they were certain of their scathing wit and superiority to the object of their condescension.; 6/17/12, 11:48 AM
Carol said...: That black men are spokesmen -

Yeah they got a good line of BS. Booker T. Washington noted in Up From Slavery that his students gravitated toward oratory, rather than learning how to actually do stuff. Nothing has changed much.; 6/17/12, 11:56 AM
dreams said...: Cory Booker is supposedly dead to the Obama sycophants and I've lost what little respect I had for him given his spineless behavior regarding his Romney defense walk-back.; 6/17/12, 12:08 PM
traditionalguy said...: Booker nails it. Maybe he has Georgia white cousins too...like me. Courage is where you find it and skin color shades do not identfy it. Try looking them in the eyes and being friendly instead.

This concept is only the old Scots-Irish theme of "never surrender" extended to your neighbors that need help.; 6/17/12, 12:38 PM
tim maguire said...: I read the opening lines of Dowd's column, laughed that she was regretting the loss of all that she has spent her career trying to destroy, and turned the page.

I filed Dowd under "life's too short" long ago.; 6/17/12, 12:48 PM
William said...: People like Dowd are willing to criticize institutions like the Catholic Church and the Penn State football program when they tolerate sex offenders. When it comes to Roman Polanski, not so much. It is wrong to sacrifice children to preserve the moral standing of the Church or a football program, but it's a different order of business when it comes to making a critically acclaimed movie....Can someone name a single Hollywood actor who would refusee to work with Polanski on moral grounds? Can you name a single actor who has been criticized for hypocrisy for working with Polanski?.....I give Dowd credit in that she was at least willing to take a few swings at Clinton. Maybe she even somewhere expressed muted criticism of the various Kennedy scandals. But, all in all, Dowd's analysis exemplifies rather than criticizes the dynamics of how the Church and the Penn State program became so corrupt. Dowd and her crowd give the rapists in their midst minimal criticism while hurling balls of fire at such safe targets as Church prelates and football coaches.....When Dowd writes a column detailing why Kate Winslet is an enabler of child rapists, I will accept her criticism of the assistant Penn State coach. How about a column blasting Ben Bradlee for his knowing cover up of JFK's many predations. Maureen Dowd is not so brave.; 6/17/12, 1:06 PM
Ipso Fatso said...: MODO!!!! Update your PHOTO!!!!; 6/17/12, 1:08 PM
MisterBuddwing said...: Dowd's column is resulting in the standard rhetoric from the usual suspects.

Liberals say we've lost our moral compass because of corporate greed, conservative corruption, Republican selfishness. (Blame President Reagan.)

And the conservatives are saying it's all because of liberal amorality, nonjudgmental progressives and Democratic selfishness. (Blame the Sixties.)

So what else is new?; 6/17/12, 1:10 PM
rhhardin said...: You can fly without reference to the ground with a moral compass.

Just head south (in the northern hemisphere) and use it as a turn and bank indicator.

The vertical component of the magnetic field works with the compass instead of against it, heading south.

Heading north the compass isn't worth anything, confusing bank with turn adversely.

It's not too good either way in turbulence, which introduces too much noise to ferret out a reliable turn indication.

Save it for descending in a calm fog.; 6/17/12, 1:50 PM
Scott M said...: Ta-Nehisi Coates over at The Atlantic claims that black men don't get credit for doing the right thing. The main problem is that I'm not so sure Coates would agree with much that Booker claims is "the right thing".

It's startling because it's coming from a supposed Obama surrogate although of late dead to said POTUS. I suppose you could make the case that it's startling because it's a black man saying it and ask why more white men don't, but I would suggest that some white men say it all the time. So much so that it's lost in the background static of our caustic of-late culture. Sort of like someone saying Black History Month is important and there's no White History Month because it's "all" white history.; 6/17/12, 2:06 PM
rcommal said...: Just another excuse to attack capitalism and liberty from the NYT.

In this instance, I don't quite get this, given that the context leading up to the final quote in the article (which is Booker's) is the Sandusky case, and the failure if people surrounding him to put a stop to his terrible actions. It appears that people were indeed behaving in a shallow fasion, intimidated by the celebrity if the Penn State football program and its coaching staff. In reading the most if the comments in this thread, I'm sort of wondering if folks read the linked piece. : ); 6/17/12, 2:27 PM
rcommal said...: I am too ham-fingered to post from a phone. As is clear, I hit "i" for "o" almost every dang time! Grrrrr.; 6/17/12, 2:30 PM
somefeller said...: rcommal, if there's one thing you can count on, it's that a lot of people won't read the linked piece before commenting. And if they do read the piece, many will still go off with their knee-jerk comments either because of a lack of reading comprehension capabilities or the sad need to blame libruls for everything wrong in the world, starting with whatever is wrong in their lives. And it's usually the same set of commenters who roll that way. As night follows day...; 6/17/12, 2:35 PM
Anonymous said...: How can MoDo decry the decline in (traditional) moral values and character when the mission of liberalism has explicitly been to do exactly that??

Feminism is me-ism! Abortion cheapens respect for life! And moral relativism is not morality, Ms. Dowd.
Gosh, she is thick.; 6/17/12, 3:45 PM
DADvocate said...: That black men are spokesmen - while white guys are mostly still lost in the weeds - is interesting, I think. To be applauded, for sure, but there certainly aren't enough of us black guys and the white guys need to, both, snap out of it and give us some help.

I blogged this morning about the current situation for males in our country. My final thought was: "I wonder a far down men have to be pushed, how down trodden and abused by society, how much they have to blamed for every ill in society before they cry out, “Enough!!” and fight back."

Happy Father's Day.; 6/17/12, 3:52 PM
drunkdebunker said...: This guy has to switch parties. There is no room in the human cess pool known as the leadership of the Democrat party for a decent man like him.; 6/17/12, 4:57 PM
SGT Ted said...: Because the complaints about a lack of morality made about the Sandusky perving are the same they make about "consumer culture" being "immoral" as well.

I read the piece, theres nothing new in it. They are trying to tie both together to condemn both, using liberal "morality".

Especially after all the "you can't legislate morality" blather we hear from these folks when Christians talk about moral failings and Hollyweird values, etc.

It's the chutzpah, people.; 6/17/12, 6:09 PM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: So says the guy who gets paid off to defend Chief Executive Outsourcer Romney's firm.; 6/17/12, 6:27 PM
Derve Swanson said...: Hey annie,

You never answered the ? before deleting...

Why do you lowercase the letters in some formal names, yet cap the letters in others???

Kinda jumps out at ya, the seeming lack of respect. Did she get you fired from the NYT guest column gig or something?; 6/17/12, 7:00 PM
Nora said...: No "... consumerism and narcissism and me-ism " corroded "our culture" as moral relativism propagared by the "liberals". When one accepts that "one man's terrorist is anther man's freedom fighter" blaiming comsumerism is redundant; 6/18/12, 5:01 AM
Robert Cook said...: "When one accepts that 'one man's terrorist is anther man's freedom fighter' blaiming (sic) comsumerism is redundant."

I can't really figure out what your remark means, but it provides an opportunity to look at recent historical examples of such relativism:

http://www.juancole.com/2005/08/
fisking-war-on-terror-once-upon-time.html; 6/18/12, 7:06 AM
harrogate said...: "I'd love to see how the Althouse reg'lars would shit all over the Sermon on the Mount were it delivered today by a contemporary analog to Jesus."

This. And the post itself would include an Amazon link, natch.; 6/18/12, 7:56 AM
Tibore said...: From the article:
"“We can’t put shallow celebrity before core decency. We have to have a deeper faith in the human spirit."

I agree. And to that end, Mayor Booker should call Obama and give him some tips.

"The dinner was the Obama campaign's latest attempt to bank on celebrities for fundraising help in countering the growing donor enthusiasm from Republicans supporting Mitt Romney's presidential bid...

..."You're the tie-breaker," he said. "You're the ultimate arbiter of which direction this country goes."

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/obama-celebrities-youre-ultimate-arbiter-which-direction-country-goes; 6/18/12, 8:40 AM
Smilin' Jack said...: As they say, he who has the heart to help has the right to complain.

A quick Google confirmed my suspicion that no one but this twit has ever said that.

Booker once ran into a burning house to save a neighbor

But the neighbor turned out to be a shallow, narcissistic consumerist. This is known as "karma."; 6/18/12, 8:41 AM
Kenneth Burns said...: I don't get how saving someone from a burning building is anti-capitalist. But then I never read volume two of Capital.; 6/18/12, 8:56 AM
Robert Cook said...: "I don't get how saving someone from a burning building is anti-capitalist. But then I never read volume two of Capital."

YOU JUST DON'T GET IT!!

The person in the burning building is in there by choice, and the building is burning due to actions or choices the trapped person has made. It's not up to others--or government--to intervene and save the lazy parasite from suffocating or burning to death. That's properly the function of the private sphere, as those risking their lives to save victims from burning building should have the right to profit from their risk!

How typically obtuse of a leftist liberal commie fellow traveler useful idiot to not grasp this elementary truth.; 6/18/12, 9:24 AM