Note that we covered this important book on an earlier thread (on which no one chose to comment)–KSH
Americans are glum at the moment. No, I mean really glum. In April, a new poll revealed that 81 percent of the American people believe that the country is on the “wrong track.” In the 25 years that pollsters have asked this question, last month’s response was by far the most negative. Other polls, asking similar questions, found levels of gloom that were even more alarming, often at 30- and 40-year highs. There are reasons to be pessimistic””a financial panic and looming recession, a seemingly endless war in Iraq, and the ongoing threat of terrorism. But the facts on the ground””unemployment numbers, foreclosure rates, deaths from terror attacks””are simply not dire enough to explain the present atmosphere of malaise.
American anxiety springs from something much deeper, a sense that large and disruptive forces are coursing through the world. In almost every industry, in every aspect of life, it feels like the patterns of the past are being scrambled. “Whirl is king, having driven out Zeus,” wrote Aristophanes 2,400 years ago. And””for the first time in living memory””the United States does not seem to be leading the charge. Americans see that a new world is coming into being, but fear it is one being shaped in distant lands and by foreign people.
Look around. The world’s tallest building is in Taipei, and will soon be in Dubai. Its largest publicly traded company is in Beijing. Its biggest refinery is being constructed in India. Its largest passenger airplane is built in Europe. The largest investment fund on the planet is in Abu Dhabi; the biggest movie industry is Bollywood, not Hollywood. Once quintessentially American icons have been usurped by the natives. The largest Ferris wheel is in Singapore. The largest casino is in Macao, which overtook Las Vegas in gambling revenues last year. America no longer dominates even its favorite sport, shopping. The Mall of America in Minnesota once boasted that it was the largest shopping mall in the world. Today it wouldn’t make the top ten. In the most recent rankings, only two of the world’s ten richest people are American. These lists are arbitrary and a bit silly, but consider that only ten years ago, the United States would have serenely topped almost every one of these categories.
I don’t have a problem with the idea that America may not be the world leader much longer. What worries me is what will succeed us and what attitudes the new leaders will have.
I will be glad when the liberals will not have America to blame any more.
I just couldn’t churn up the energy to read it the first time — all about “American anxiety” at not being first anymore.
If we aren’t “first” — I’m not anxious about it. If we are “first” — I’m not anxious about it. And none of my friends are either.
I’ve spent the last year avoiding all of the blaring headlines about how the economy is DOOMED — and now I’m spending the next months listening to the media marvel that the economy is NOT DOOMED.
And I never got into either cycle — just plugged along, as one of my friends and acquaintances did, [i]nearly entirely unaffected by it all[/i].
Like IQ, i’m not convinced the pollster’s “wrong track” question actually measures what they think it measures.
Kendall – Thanks for reposting. The lead paragraphs here are far more glum and loaded with buzzwords than the actual content. Some of the points FZ cites early as bringing Americans down are:
Unemployment: Still very low at 5.1%. Use the gut test – the next time you get customer service, ask yourself “did they seem overqualified?”
Death from terrorism: since 2001: zero domestic
Recession: sure, maybe, but it’s been localized
The fear of these things is worse in some ways then the things themselves. We dread potential downsides, but for most people it never materializes. Check out some of the research on happiness (or subjective well-being, SWB, as the practitioners call it): people who have more sustained gains in SWB also have more downside risk; cool innovations (think BlackBerry) become necessities whose absence is felt keenly while their presence is simply assumed.
Some of the other “signs” of America slipping are silly (as FZ notes). We don’t have the tallest building anymore. True, but we haven’t been kicking ourselves for ten years since we lost to Malaysia’s Petronas Towers. We don’t have so many of the richest men: true, we just have #1 and #3. 4 of the top 10 are Indians, which makes sense given their economy’s huge expansion and domestic maturing, and a large number of the top 25 are Russian (read: natural resource wealth). Macau is bigger than Vegas? OK, but do most Americans really identify with Vegas as a source of national pride? Most people I know loathe the place. We don’t have the biggest mall? Again, ok, but I would argue we have the largest mass availability of high-end consumer goods of any nation, period (not necessarily a good thing).
Let’s hit a few other areas which run counter to the overall thesis.
Science: Just start counting Nobels.
Medicine: The wealthiest fraction may seek out the Gulf, but the merely disgustingly wealthy stay in NYC, Boston, or fly to Mayo.
Military: Not even close. For most of the world, not only do we dominate the ability to project force, but we control the backbone for large operations. The Pentagon’s New Map is worth reading.
Economy: Still the biggest, with worries.
Open Society: We have issues, but even with them we are the destination of choice for much of the world’s talent, Richard Florida’s concerns notwithstanding. The young “creative class” may globetrot, but most of the designers/consultants/engineers I know are more stable, have families, kids, homes… also are heavily immigrant.
In a nutshell: we’ve had a bumpy ride, but the fundamentals are in our favor.
Maybe I have my head in the sand. But I just can’t get all worked up about doom and gloom. Right now our family is about as low as we could ever be financially. But I still figure we are way better off than most of the world. I have running water and let’s face it still am faced with a choice of 20 brands of potatoe chips when I go to the store. We face the prospect of having to sell our house if my husband’s work hours continue to fizzle and let me tell you the Florida real estate market is phhbttt!!!
So why don’t I worry? Oh I do, but I also trust in Christ. I know whatever happens whether good or ill is in the long run allowed to happen for the testing and good of my soul. I am held back from despair by the sure knowledge that do so is to turn my back on Hope which for a Christian is Jesus, Himself. I am held back from bitterness because I know it is a barrier to Charity. I am held back from blame because I know to look for blame is to close the door to Faith.
We are still fortunate to live in a great Country, no matter the economic state of the Union. I am grateful for our system of Government and for the freedoms we our guaranteed. I do not delude myself that things are perfect. But I believe finding solutions is more likely here than in many other parts of the world.