Opinion: Mission-Minded Entrepreneurs Must Make Room for Politics and ‘Moral Realism’

The current crop of idealistic social entrepreneurs could take a page from noir detective fiction in tackling tough global problems, says New York Times columnist David Brooks.

While he praises the “service religion” of young activists who are “setting the moral tone for the age,” Mr. Brooks said their disdain for politics and for tackling the corruption and social disorder that often underlie poverty and suffering weaken their ability to effect change.

“One rarely hears social entrepreneurs talk about professional policing, honest courts, or strict standards of behavior; it’s more uplifting to talk about microloans and sustainable agriculture,” he writes. “There’s only so much good you can do unless you are willing to confront corruption, venality, and disorder head-on.”

Mr. Brooks suggests young social entrepreneurs read the noir novels of authors like Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, writing that their heroes’ “moral realism” in the face of corruption and venality “would be a nice supplement to today’s prevailing ethos. It would fold some hardheadedness in with today’s service mentality.”