How to stay sane during a 'brutalizing time' of 'mass savagery': conservative

03 November 2023

2023 has had no shortage of disturbing headlines, from Hamas' October 7 terrorist attack against Israel to the political tensions and unrest in the United States.

Conservative New York Times opinion writer David Brooks doesn't mince words in his November 2 column, acknowledging that times are dark — but offering a recipe for maintaining mental health.

"We're living in a brutalizing time," Brooks laments. "Scenes of mass savagery pervade the media. Americans have become vicious toward one another amid our disagreements. Everywhere I go, people are coping with an avalanche of negative emotions: shock, pain, contempt, anger, anxiety, fear.… How do you stay mentally healthy and spiritually whole in brutalizing times? How do you prevent yourself from becoming embittered, hate-filled, calloused over, suspicious and desensitized?"

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The columnist goes on to offer some recommendations.

"You can try to avoid thinking about the dark realities of life and naïvely wish that bad things won't happen," Brooks explains. "Or you can confront these realities and develop a tragic mentality to help you thrive among them….. This tragic sensibility prepares you for the rigors of life in concrete ways. First, it teaches a sense of humility…. Second, the tragic sensibility nurtures a prudent approach to life."

According to Brooks, "Third, this tragic mentality encourages caution…. Fourth, the tragic mentality teaches people to be suspicious of their own rage…. Fifth, tragedies thrust the harsh realities of individual suffering in our faces, and in them, we find our common humanity."

Read David Brooks' full New York Times column at this link (subscription required).

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