This article seems to oppose much of what I have been taught in my life and Brooks acknowledges that. I think he is onto something though. The institutional thinking that he discusses is less about conceding to an age old practice merely because of the tradition but rather because of the wisdom it holds. It is not mindless acceptance but an appreciation of the ethics involved as the ethics reflect experience and experience is invaluable. Experience isn't everything but when it is neglected then it repeats itself. I mean, not many really remember the Great Depression.
What Life Asks of Us.
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I wrote in my journal about a similar subject last night. I was questioning my life narrative in terms of the "greater stories" I try to fit my life into. Call them institutions, if you'd like. How do the multiple institutions or "grand narratives," as I've been calling them to myself, tell a different story about me. I'm the same me, but how does each grand narrative reflect it's truth and perspective in a way different from another. How is the language I use constructed by the story I'm trying to live?
Maybe I'm getting off subject but I definitely agree with David Brooks that institutions can and do bring a great deal of meaning to our lives - if not define our lives.
I'll have to keep thinking about this one.
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