When you read this David Brooks piece....

Here's David Brooks on the most recent Mel Gibson scandal, but don't focus on Mel, charming man that he seems to be. Think about the Self-Esteem Inflation that Brooks is writing about, the percentages of Americans who behave as if they have S-EI, and think especially about drivers....

Here's a paragraph from the column:

"In their book, “The Narcissism Epidemic,” Jean M. Twenge and W. Keith Campbell cite data to suggest that at least since the 1970s, we have suffered from national self-esteem inflation. They cite my favorite piece of sociological data: In 1950, thousands of teenagers were asked if they considered themselves an “important person.” Twelve percent said yes. In the late 1980s, another few thousand were asked. This time, 80 percent of girls and 77 percent of boys said yes."