I realize reading David Brooks for anything but the pictures is foolish (and since there are no pictures in his columns, that means you shouldn’t be reading him), but he has recently outdone himself. Arguing that a social safety net is unaffordable, Brooks burbles the following:

Western democratic systems were based on a balance between self-doubt and self-confidence. They worked because there were structures that protected the voters from themselves and the rulers from themselves. Once people lost a sense of their own weakness, the self-doubt went away and the chastening structures were overwhelmed. It became madness to restrain your own desires because surely your rivals over yonder would not be restraining theirs.

Let’s leave aside that someone dependent on Social Security for most or all of her income isn’t exactly living the high life (in fact, avoiding cat food as an entree is the goal). Said person probably hasn’t really lived the high life ever. Just worth noting. And let’s ignore the whole underlying premise that the U.S. government, as a currency issuer, could run out of money.

There’s a more ridiculous problem here:

MOTHERFUCKER JUST BOUGHT A FOUR MILLION DOLLAR HOUSE. WITH FIVE BEDROOMS AND FOUR AND A HALF BATHROOMS.

Look, being full of shit is a figurative expression, not a literal one.

Irony died some time ago, and we are now neck deep in obscenity.

That this man has valuable NYT op-ed real estate is yet another reason why we can’t have nice things.