American culture has shifted from one that focused on cultivating character and moral foundation to one that emphasizes the development of external display, David Brooks told a packed crowd on Friday Nov. 22 at the Flint Center.

“The rise of egotism has had some effect in this shift,” said Brooks, a political and cultural commentator for the New York Times columnist and PBS Newshour.

He reminisced on the ethos of earlier decades and certain public figures, and the shift to a “self-focused”, “overly-confident”, “individualistic” and “morally inarticulate” society.

Despite the dejected nature of the topic, audiences maintained their laughter in response to Brooks’ deprecating jokes.

“Kids are now brought up with constant praises; told to listen to their own voice, to follow their own truth and come up with their own moral philosophy, leaving little room for self-criticisms, self-effacement and self-doubt,” said Brooks.

He points out that colleges once emphasized teaching respect and building character, but are now institutions primarily focused on equipping students with skills to become professionally successful.

The audience laughed and gasped in unison when Brooks provided startling statistics showing increased narcissism and inflated self-worth in Americans.

“We’re about 25th in the world in math performance, but we’re number one in saying we’re really good at math,” he said.

Brooks said the upsurge in our consumption the past few decades parallels our increase in ego.

Brooks said if people do not see themselves as special and instead see themselves as “a small piece in a long chain of generations,” they will have a moral sense to inhibit spending on themselves and prevent pushing debt toward future generation.

The shift from self-distrust to a lot of self-trust has also created polarization in our society, said Brooks.

“If you think you have a modest view of your own opinion, you know you’re going to need the people who disagree with you to balance off your own errors,” he said.

“If you think you own 100 percent of the truth, then people who disagree with you are just in the way.”

Brooks said after years of covering politics, he has concluded that “the good of the country is only dependent on the character of its people and it comes back to rediscovering our basic sense of decency and basic modesty.”

Brooks was one of the speakers in the Celebrity Forum series at Flint Center.

The next speaker feature is Steve Wozniak, inventor of the first two generations of apple computers. His talks are scheduled Jan. 22 to 24, 2014. For more information, go to  www.celebrityforum.net.