The Money Culture War

Yesterday’s New York Times carried a column worth reading by David Brooks. It is a little confused, even by the standards of Times columns, but the gist of it is a call to arms for a brand new culture war, this one over money.

I’m all for that.

Brooks starts out by recalling a centuries old idea.

The theory was that great nations start out tough-minded and energetic. Toughness and energy lead to wealth and power. Wealth and power lead to affluence and luxury. Affluence and luxury lead to decadence, corruption and decline.

This was a theory invented for, and more or less exclusively applied to, the fall of the Roman Empire. But don’t let the fact that it’s long since been cast aside by historians distract you. Brooks thinks we’ve gone soft.

In the good old days (pre-1980, apparently) we Americans kept ourselves tough and energetic no matter how rich we got. No luxury or decadence here. Nope. Not the American way. We’re strong.

That’s because despite the country’s notorious materialism, there has always been a countervailing stream of sound economic values. The early settlers believed in Calvinist restraint. The pioneers volunteered for brutal hardship during their treks out west. Waves of immigrant parents worked hard and practiced self-denial so their children could succeed.

Yeah, okay. But let’s call a spade a spade here. The reason we didn’t let our riches become complaisant luxury is because no matter how rich we got, we wanted to get richer. Those are our sound economic values. Calvinist restraint was not motivated by the shame of public ostentation, it was motivated by a belief that you should save and invest to become as wealthy as possible, because divine favor was manifest in material success.

And here is where Brooks gets really confused, telling us that our moral decline began when we started legalizing gambling and when "executives and hedge fund managers began bragging about compensation packages."

I know many executives and hedge fund managers and I’ve never heard one brag about their compensation package. Of course, all of them have an earnest desire for even larger wheelbarrows full of money. But how is that not in keeping with our traditional Calvinist culture?

Brooks’ contribution is to call for a new culture war to get the nation back on track economically. You are familiar with the old culture war, aren’t you? That’s the fight between those that want to destroy evolution and those that want to destroy Christmas. It’s hugely important to hundreds of people.

As I said, I’m all in favor of a new protracted fight over our money culture for the hearts and minds of op-ed contributors everywhere. I might even get a book deal out of it.

But it seems to me that our core culture is unchanged and unthreatened. Supersized restaurant portions aside, we haven’t gone soft. We still want to get richer and are prepared to work hard and go without to do so. We just can’t figure out how to do it anymore. Our economy has grown and evolved to the point where our basic instincts to accumulate more are not enough. There is no 21st Century equivalent of "Go west young man." For most Americans, the problem is not a lack of drive to get richer, it’s a lack of knowledge. And, as I probably don’t need to add, mainstream personal finance advice is not helping much.

So let the war commence! I’m not sure what the sides are exactly, although I think that whatever they are Brooks and I are not on the same one. Still, this does sound like fun.

Media, The Big Picture | Frank Curmudgeon | September 30, 2009 11:59 am

7 Comments

By Jim, September 30, 2009 @ 2:54 pm

Sounds good to me. I think a culture war over money would be more compelling TV than the current war over Xmas vs Darwin.
By Hantu, September 30, 2009 @ 5:59 pm

I like the whole “war on concept” stuff… War on Christmas, drugs, terror…

I can’t wait for someone to declare war on the wind or sunshine…

Palin 2012 anyone?
By Matt, September 30, 2009 @ 7:30 pm

I agree that many of us still want to get richer and are willing to work hard and sacrifice, yet we can’t figure out how to do it anymore as the evolution of the economy has overwhelmed.

I disagree that the problem is lack of knowledge. Honestly, the more I know, the less I trust most of the basics: Social Security, Medicare, the US dollar, Treasuries, buy-and-hold index funds, the affordability of a basic house, the value of a Bachelor’s degree.

If you were earning 42k per year (gross), wtf would you really do?
By Adam, September 30, 2009 @ 10:51 pm

“It’s hugely important to hundreds of people.”

Great line
By Rick Francis, October 1, 2009 @ 10:16 am

>There is no 21st Century equivalent of “Go west young man.”

How about “Go online young man”? I find it hard to believe there is no more big opportunities online, the internet hasn’t been mainstream 20 years yet.

-Rick

-Rick Francis
By Rob Bennett, October 1, 2009 @ 12:55 pm

Our economy has grown and evolved to the point where our basic instincts to accumulate more are not enough. There is no 21st Century equivalent of “Go west young man.” For most Americans, the problem is not a lack of drive to get richer, it’s a lack of knowledge.

My take is 100 percent opposite of Frank’s take. I think that what Brooks is saying is important.

I think “Go West, Young Man!” applies 10 times more today than it ever has before. The opportunities sitting before us on a plate are just amazing. And, no, I don’t see any intellectual deficiency that stops us from reaping the benefits.

The core problem is indeed cultural. You have to want to get rich to pull it off. Too many of us today are too complacent to do what it takes or even to cheer on those who try.

I think that one problem is that material luxuries are no longer special. We need to be striving for a new kind of luxury, greater work satisfaction and greater cultural satisfaction and greater spiritual satisfaction. These things are often mocked and ignored today. But to motivate large numbers of people to do what it would take to get us moving forward again, we need to look to new and stronger and more enduring motivators.

I like it that Brooks is not attacking left or right, Democrat or Republican. He is going to the root. I share his view that the root problem is not one that can be blamed on one party or one ideology. It’s bigger than that. That’s why many have a hard time grasping it, in my assessment.

Rob
By racy, October 1, 2009 @ 9:02 pm

I guess I’m not sure what the sides of the war are. Nevertheless, I would like to see more self relianace, more savings, less consumerism. Most young people I talk to don’t have any idea about the Magic of Compound Interest. One doesn’t need to work hard forever IF they would just get in the habit of saving & investing as early as possible. It’s easy to become a millionaire and better!