David Brooks has a new book full of old ideas—and a lot of self-righteous platitudes thrown in for good measure. The Second Mountain is all about moving beyond self-interest and learning to care for others. It hinges on a metaphor of two mountains: the first which is about “building up the ego,” “defining the self,” and “acquisition,” and the second of which is concerned with “shedding the ego,” “losing the self,” and “contribution.” Interestingly, Brooks then goes on to spend almost the entire book defining himself and his beliefs.
The world is in a “transition moment” between individualism and “relationalism” according to Brooks. We can either run back to tribalism and ensuing wars that will “make the twentieth [century] look like child's play,” or we can head for “relationalism” and “spreading out more in commitment to others,” according to the New York Times columnist. Hyperindividualism and collectivism both go too far, as opposed to “relationalism,” which Brooks says “sees each person as a node in a thick and enchanted web of warm commitments.”
Do you feel enchanted yet?
First, what The Second Mountain gets right: it reminds us that modern culture has become pathologically individualistic. Brooks urges a social “renewal” that will heal our “crisis of connection,” arguing correctly that “over the past sixty years we have swung too far toward the self.”
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