Television news tends to center on bombs going off in Iraq and has mostly ignored several million people voting in Afghanistan. We see footage of angry Palestinians, but not much about the ongoing progress toward democracy in Egypt. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in turn have dominated the news and have made it difficult to get a sense of what is happening in the world.Barone acknowledges "the news is not positive everywhere," but fears many don't keep "the big picture in focus":
A world spinning out of control: That is what the old-line broadcast networks seem to be showing us.
Polls show that most Americans think the economy is in dreadful shape, even though almost all the numbers are good: Inflation and unemployment are low, and growth is robust despite the exogenous shocks of Sept. 11, Enron and Katrina. After a generation of almost constant low-inflation economic growth, perhaps we Americans are only satisfied when we have bubble growth, as in the late 1990s, and are unimpressed when the American economy proves once again to be amazingly resilient. This is all the more astonishing when you consider that we are going through a time of increased competition and change, as China and India, with 37 percent of the world's population, are transforming their economies from Third World to First World. Such a large proportion of mankind moving rapidly upward: This has never happened before and will never happen again. . .Panglossian? Perhaps. But also: "'Probable!' replied the philosopher, 'I maintain that the thing is demonstrable.'"
But even if things are going well, isn't America hated around the world? By the elites and chattering classes of many countries, yes, and by much of the American elite and chattering class as well. But we are not competing in a popularity contest. In a unipolar world, the single superpower will always arouse envy and dislike. The relevant question is if we can live safely in the world; the French may dislike us, but we can live comfortably with France.
More:
Irina of IgNoble Experiment:
Politics can (and often do) get boring, dirty, and repetitious.(via Betsy's Page)
Magic never does. . .
All is not lost...
And the Best is Truly Yet to Come!
3 comments:
Thanks for the plug! You know, I'd say that the problem with many of our pessimists is actually the opposite... they try to grasp too broad a picture, instead of focusing on the good things they actually have in their hands and working on improving the country by cultivating their own little gardens.
Irina:
I agree completely, and have pointed to:
"the fashionable, but erroneous, triumph of uncertainty and nuance so common among the left, especially in academia. Ronald Reagan's success was founded on his unparalleled ability to simplify, a truth that draws hoots and smirks from liberals. The left's not right on this one. . .
[C]ertainty is essential to support action. The left avoids acting by insisting on complexity. Such indecision will never liberate the oppressed or challenge the oppressor."
I've expounded on the point here.
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