ARC: How the Elite rigged Society (and why it’s falling apart) | David Brooks

Alliance for Responsible Citizenship or ARC
How the Elite rigged Society (and why it’s falling apart) | David Brooks




With the return of the ARC Conference this February, we are launching our first book — a work that encapsulates the values and ideas that shape ARC’s mission. The Best of Our Inheritance brings together fifteen of the sharpest minds of our time to make a bold case for remembering the values of our civilisation. From Barry Straussʼ account of the Classical Tradition, Ayaan Hirsi Aliʼs personal reflections on the values of the West and its Christian roots to Nigel Biggarʼs chapter on human dignity and Joseph Laconte’s call to the artists, reading this book will give you a tangible vision for civilisational renewal.

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David Brooks is a bestselling author, columnist for The New York Times, and a contributor to The Atlantic. He is also a commentator on The PBS Newshour. His latest book is How To Know A Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen.

Thank you all so much for your engagement and comments on this video. We're really glad that you all feel so willing to engage passionately and intellectually. We also appreciate it's caused a little bit of a stir and debate in the comments. At ARC, we profoundly believe in the value of free speech and the need for ideas and people to constructively clash - it's only in the furnace of debate that we'll work out the direction for the future of our civilisations that promotes human flourishing and hope. David's keynote was one of those moments at ARC 2025 that excited us precisely because it generated so much discussion and debate. There is a fantastic spread of perspectives across everyone who spoke and attended ARC, as well as all of you in the comments below - many disagreed with David, many agreed, and many are still making up their minds. But here's one thing we are all committed to – that we need to be builders, creators, and hopeful navigators for the reconstruction of our societies. Unlike those who seek to cynically deconstruct our civilisation, we don't cancel people, de-platform people, or create echo chambers. So let's keep on debating and working it out together. Peace.