collects 83 columns and other articles written since 1981 by Noonan, a Wall Street Journal columnist and former White House speechwriter.
You write about politics but often end up turning to cultural issues. Why?
I was born in 1950. The culture saved my life. I found it inspiring. It could inculcate the right things. That world is gone. At 15 I could live happily without any ideological thoughts. Now everyone has to have an opinion. The culture today is in a scary place. I worry about children who are neglected. Buying and selling prescription drugs is out there in a big way. Antidrug programs may be doomed to fail, but common sense tells us that legalization is not going to make the country any better. We seem to be throwing in the towel little by little.
You often write about being troubled by today’s politicians.
In the old days, people led normal lives, served in elective office, and then came home. Now they are in Washington forever. Elective office is likely to be ticket punching before you become a lobbyist for the big corporations that you understand better than anybody else. It amounts to a political protection racket. We have a permanent ruling class leading protected lives. They have never had to sweat. They’ve never had the anxiety that ordinary people face daily. They’ve never had to figure out how to find the money to buy a new television set. Normal America makes choices. Things are not infinite. Too many who are working in the White House, on K Street, and on the Hill forget how ordinary people live. You lose track when you are in power a long time.
What’s the solution?
Term limits. Yes, it’s been tried, and yes, there will always be some talent that will be lost. But it is the only way to escape the permanent ruling class that is destroying politics.
Any way out of the cultural swamp?
We should try to reclaim privacy and protect personal dignity. No government should know everything about us. I admire private kindness and public judgment. We need to have spirited sweetness, even in political disputes. Even when we debate and profoundly disagree over matters of life and death, we should remember that other people are human beings. Good manners help. They are preferable to the alternative. Courtesy gives room to people. Tact is a nice thing. It’s not all about you.
