My Continuing Conversation with David Brooks

("The Great Restoration")

Mr. Brooks couches his disdain for the Occupy Wall Street movement in flippant denunciations. He likens it to the days of Woodstock and sit-ins which he suggests were mere distractions that led to nothing except an almost uninterrupted era of Republican Presidents. He dismisses the protesters as having less impact on the minds of Americans than any other major story. He chastises the movement for its pessimism and anger. And then, in the intended cruelest slight, he says that its loud and boorish message contrasts to how "quietly and untelegenically Americans (are) trying to repair their economic values".

I suggest to Mr. Brooks that he has not been paying attention. This movement is all about repairing economic and moral values in our country. This movement is all about the recognition and resentment that the American dream has been nearly destroyed by years of abuse and neglect. This movement is all about making people less hesitant and fearful of what tomorrow may bring. This movement does not seek to denigrate or damage the fabric of our society but to elevate it. This movement is all about America's resurrection and restoration not its demolition.

And if Mr. Brooks can't see that this movement is growing in numbers and intensity every day, or hear that its voice is growing more important, not less, then the fault lies with him, and others like him who refuse to listen.