Back on form

David Brooks is back in his comfort zone. He had to address the Boca Moment, of course, and he managed to admit there was a lot wrong with what Romney said - though even then he had to add that

Sure, there are some government programs that cultivate patterns of dependency in some people. I’d put federal disability payments and unemployment insurance in this category.

(Those people who get disabled just to get that awesome federal payout!)

But today he's back on form, penning an admiring column about "risk-takers" "at the top", telling us that

Prosperity is often driven by small enclaves of extraordinary individuals that build new industries and amass large fortunes. These driven, manic individuals are frequently unpleasant to be around. But, if your country is not attracting and nurturing them, you’re cooked.

He also tells us that today, things are bad bad bad in the US:

Today, grandiosity is out of style. We’ve just been through a financial crisis fueled by people who got too big for their britches. We’ve got an online and media culture that specializes in ridiculing grand people.

Caution rules. The number of jobs created by business start-ups under President Obama is much lower than under the three previous presidents. The World Economic Forum ranks the competitiveness of nations, and the U.S. has lost ground in each of the last four years.

He cheers for tax breaks and government giving money to these "grand" people, these "few ridiculously ambitious people"... and manages not to mention that in that WEF report ranking (I'll link to it; he didn't - ranking is on page 15-16), the countries beating us are Switzerland, Singapore, Sweden, and Finland, and other countries moving up in the rankings are Denmark, the Netherlands and the UK. Rounding out the top ten are yes, the US, and also Germany and Japan. I see a lot of countries there that are dedicated to Eurosocialism and taking care of the bottom of their societies. He also manages not to mention that one factor depressing the US at the moment is our penchant for fighting this Endless War, which is sucking money out of the economy faster than we can comprehend.

In other words, he's back to telling us the Republicans are right in celebrating the rich, because they're the drivers of capitalism, which is perfect, and without them getting anything they want, they'll pick up their jobs and go home.

Though his poster boy in this article? Came here from Canada, and to Canada from South Africa. So I guess we do attract them, somehow...