norms

The Straits Times on 13 March 2015 published an article entitled "The importance of social norms", which was written by David Brooks, an Op-Ed columnist for the New York Times who has been described as relatively irreligious. It is a commentary on American society today with a perspective useful for Singapore. Allow me to quote extracts: “We now have multiple generations of people caught in recurring feedback loops of economic stress and family breakdown, often leading to something approaching anarchy of the intimate life. It’s not only money and better policy that are missing in these circles; it’s norms.”  “The…