Moral Decay In The White Middle Class Is The Cause Of Our Economic Problems

David Brooks recently wrote an op-ed in praise a book by Charles Murray that I decided not to criticize in a post because I was tired of wasting my time showing how wrong David Brooks is about most everything. This article provides a critique of Murray's book and has caused me to to pay more attention to it because its message is being widely distributed by the conservative media. That should not be surprising because Murray is on the payroll of the conservative American Enterprise Institute. The essence of this critique is that Murray's book is another screed on blaming the victim. Since the decadent 1960's we have seen a decay in the moral values of the white middle class and the erosion of family values. That is why we have unemployment, lower social mobility and a rise in inequality in America. This critique provides a strong argument against that view and it also shows how Murray distorts the data that he used to support his argument.