Most people don't form a self and then lead a life. They are called by a problem, and the self is constructed gradually by their calling. David Brooks More Quotes by David Brooks More Quotes From David Brooks I think actually in any party it's a sign of general health to have different views, and especially on the subject of trade. David Brooks party views thinking I would have swapped out Donald Trump's frontal cortex for somebody else's for a little more self-control. David Brooks self-control self littles You figure out, what is the crucial issue facing the country right now? And for Trump, it was that the global economy and the international world order were failing regular people. David Brooks issues order country The North Korean regime is extremely fiery, extremely insecure, sometimes hysterical. And when you're around somebody who's screaming and unstable, the last thing you want to do is add to the instability with your own unstable, hysterical rhetoric. David Brooks korean insecure sometimes It's always dangerous to overinterpret what Donald Trump says at any one moment. David Brooks dangerous moments The madman theory is that you can be a successful deterrer if you - if they think you could be crazy. And so I think it can be very effective, so long as you're not actually crazy. David Brooks crazy successful thinking Clearly, politics is a team sport. Trump is not so much of a team player. David Brooks team player sports Politics really is a team sport. You really have to work the whole system to get somewhere down the road. David Brooks team sports Republicans are living in a hermetically sealed Republican universe, just as Democrats are. And so they're responding to their own universe, even if it leads to electoral downfall. David Brooks downfall democrat republican If you're running a successful administration, then you're loyal to people who are basically good who make a mistake. And that seems to be essential for any organization. And it should be essential if this were a normal administration, rather than a fiefdom, where everybody simply tries to give Donald Trump a good headline every day. David Brooks successful mistake running Trade has suddenly become massively unpopular. I think that's massively unjust. I think free trade has been wonderful for America on balance. David Brooks balance america thinking For those of us who believe in it, there has to be a movement that says, "We still believe in trade. We still believe in international engagement for America. But for those losers or those who are suffering, we've got your back." David Brooks loser suffering believe For the Democrats, they're trying to avoid having the Sanders-Clinton debate over and over again. But, to some degree, they're sentenced to that debate. Clinton is much more embracing of the global economy and the international world order. Sanders and Warren are much less so. And they have got to figure out which side the party is on, if they're going to have a clear message. I think this is probably one you probably can't straddle. David Brooks party order thinking I can't imagine that being in the Trump Cabinet will be a very important job. I do think this will be a White House-run administration with a teeny-tiny group of people surrounding him, including his family maybe. David Brooks important people thinking If it's all win-loss, then you do whatever you can to win and to make money and to beat the deal. David Brooks making-money winning My colleague Ross Douthat wrote that any time you give Donald Trump the benefit of the doubt, he always lets you down. David Brooks benefit-of-the-doubt doubt giving I think the twenty-first century happened, basically. That this century started on 9/11. And basically, it's been a century of counter reaction to globalization and the meritocracy. And a good century for 72 nations have gotten more authoritarian. We've had Brexit. We have Le Pen rising in France. We've just got a lot of these types all around the world. And the people who are suffering from globalization and the meritocracy are saying, "No more. You know, we get a voice too." David Brooks suffering people thinking We still are America though. We're still a country that is a country of social mobility. We're still a country of immigrants. We're still a country with common ancestors. And reviving the civics of America and the idea that we're going to be united, at least not right now, but in some common future, and talking in that hopeful way that Martin Luther King did, that Abraham Lincoln did, seems to me that's the way. David Brooks hopeful common country The fact that there could be an ISIS West Bank, the fact that the Palestinian government in Gaza doesn't even acknowledge Israel's right to exist, the fact of constant terror, delegitimization campaigns in the Palestinian schools, these are all much bigger facts. And for the Barack Obama administration to focus on this one fact, almost, not to the expense, but to diminish some of the others which are much more important, is to cast all the blame on Israel and to take the U.N. policy toward Israel, which has been longstanding, and sort of surrender to it. David Brooks focus important school What Bannon and Trump have presented us with is an idea of America that's not been the traditional idea, not the Walt Whitman idea, not the George Washington, Abraham Lincoln idea, which is one of welcoming because we're the last, best hope of Earth. David Brooks earth america ideas
