David Brooks on the pragmatism of today's young people

So where have I been for the last several months? As much as I'd like to say that starting today I'll be back on my blog regularly, it's a hard promise to keep: blogging takes a regular commitment. But I'll try.

What brings me back today is a nice piece in this morning's New York Times by David Brooks about today's college students and their political attitudes. In particular, Brooks highlights their rejection of ideology in favor of pragmatism, and traces the origins of this attitudes to the ideological battles of the 1990s, which today's young adults seem to reject.

Some questions: While I agree with the shift, do you think that Brooks' diagnosis of the cause is accurate? What about the 'bowling alone' effect: the increasing individualism and corrosion of community-building forces, which have helped create a generation so oriented around self? Is that a part of this at all?

What I find remarkable about the emerging adults I work with is not the attitudes of "I'm spiritual but not religious" or "I'm liberal but not a Democrat"--those attitudes have been around for a long time, and reflect general late adolescent searching for self. What's new, in my estimation, is the general unease this generation has with insititutional identification, whether that's ideology (religious, political, philosophical) or about relationships (marriage, family, etc.).