Whenever the subject of America’s status as a world hegemon (or how that status will decline over the next 75 years or so) arises, my “go-to” argument is simple. That simplicity should key you into the fact that it didn’t come from me!
“When I look at our country I see a lot of people who feel no necessity, who have lost the sense of limitations, of their days being numbered, of feeling compelled to move in a particular direction. Too many Princes, not enough New Princes. In countries like China and India, it is much different, and perhaps in 50 years America will no longer find itself in a preeminent position for that reason. All nations rise and fall in patterns, and to Machiavelli the fall of the Roman Empire came with its distance from its origins, from the necessity to create and expand. It became a nation of fat, privileged princes.”
Robert Greene’s Power Seduction and War Blog http://www.powerseductionandwar.com/archives/machiavelli_for.phtml
How can you defeat that argument? When you think about it, there is no evidence in the last 40 years that would justify America’s self-image as a benevolent but assertive “pioneering” nation. And let’s face it, the people that were around back then have lost their edge as well… to the point where they are withdrawing their money from American banks like scared children. I think that it’s important that American leaders take a good look at their constituency and realize that they are no longer rugged, rebellious individualists like this guy.
He came, he saw, he facilitated the purchase of low-end options at fast food restaurants. Such is the growing legacy of the original "G-Dub."
With the Vice-Presidential Debate on the horizon, I’ll offer another way that we’ve out grown (in the belly!) our favorable image. Tonight, Sarah Palin and Joe Biden are going to use the hallowed campus of Washington University (in St. Louis!) to perpetuate another time-honored deception: that the way that Americans make their decisions is still a Town Hall style format where community leaders battle it out verbally among educated members of the community.
Maybe I was in the minority when I realized that John McCain’s slumpy shoulders and broad tie made it impossible for me to process much of what he had said last Friday in the Presidential Debate. (I certainly wasn’t in the minority when I noticed the inherent creepiness of his stiff upper lip). Two decades of multi-tasking, exposure to tabloid news, and good old fashioned prejudice have hardened my receptive channels to the point where any type of theoretical illustration would require a rough cross-section of Andy Reid’s pulmonary artery. The only thing I will allow John McCain to tell me is how absurd it is that a 72-year old man would become the leader of the free world.
Not that I’m saying I’m right about the whole situation, that would be foolish. There are probably a few thousand Americans that would say that it’s absurd for a black man to be president of the United States… and when they saw Barack Obama last Friday, they probably heard loud rap music in their collective heads.
...in response to that, sir, I offer this retort. "David... David... David Banner!"
Back in the 1700′s, things were probably different. That congressman you might vote for? If he pisses off the wrong farmer, your state’s tobacco supply is DONE until his term is through! And nicotine patches aren’t going to be around for another few centuries. You had to pay attention back then, or it was your ass. Because crazy shit was going on… everywhere. Ever heard of the War of 1812?
And that’s really the problem with our self-image as a country. You can’t be a pioneer when there’s no pioneering left to do. You can’t be a “back against the wall” kind of guy when you live in a $250,000 house. You can’t be a nation of military excellence when lack of public support has kept you from clearly winning a war in this century and almost half of the last. (I mean… John McCain is probably the only American that knows the difference between a strategy and a tactic these days!)
And you can’t make informed decisions about how 21st century America is going to handle the next four years when our leaders keep pretending that Americans still embody these types of 18th century values and still subscribe to the antiquated notion of “The American Dream.”
Even so, I’m going to watch the debates tonight. I bet that Sarah Palin falls apart like week-old baklava.
