The Nation Of Futurity

In the Article, "The Nation Of Futurity", David Brooks analyses early European settlers and their motives for American settlement. Many of these settlers believed that "God's plans for humanity would be completed here, and that they could get really rich in the process." These Americans worked themselves rigorously, in hope that they would become spiritually and financially free. Many became let down, as they noticed they weren't living up to the standards that they had dreamed of. Brooks said "the faith is the molten core of the countries dynamism." and "This moral materialism fomented a certain sort of manic energy. Americans became famous for their energy and workaholism: for moving around, switching jobs, marrying and divorcing, creating new products and going off on righteous crusades."
As we have seen from earlier posts, we should start focusing on what truly makes us happy, and not so much on how much wealth we can accumulate.
Brooks also says that "It's the sense of living with baubles just out of reach. It's the faith in the future, which is actually more important."