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We're Number Two? Sounds good to me
Rethinking America's priorities
Maria Thompson Corley
When Jon Huntsman announced his candidacy for president recently, he remarked that the idea that this generation will be less prosperous than its parents was "un-American." That line may make a good sound byte, but it's weak history.
Rome, the British Empire, the Moors—all dominated much of the globe at some point, but of course it didn't last forever. All were done in by overreaching, fueled by a sense of entitlement. Could America's story buck that pattern? Maybe— but only if we replace our rhetoric about "the American way" with something more realistic.
Dreams of national glory and ever-increasing prosperity are important. But it's also important to be able to accept what we have. The so-called First World nations have consumed far more than their per capita share for many years. Now the two most populous nations on Earth— China and India— are questioning the prevailing norms. As they and other nations run hard to catch up, they're polluting the oceans and skies as carelessly as we used to. Sooner or later, something has to give.
Meanwhile, the upshot of Americans' tendency to shoot first and think later is the presence of American troops (I prefer to call them "people") killing and dying in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya.
Maybe it's time for America to truly lead by example. What is the price of being Number One in perpetuity? What's so terrible about being, God forbid, Number Two? What's so disastrous about redefining our definitions of upward mobility in terms of something other than firepower and material wealth?
Maybe it's time to ask ourselves why we need what we think we need. Maybe it's time to re-examine the notion that each generation must be more prosperous than the previous one.
Rome, the British Empire, the Moors—all dominated much of the globe at some point, but of course it didn't last forever. All were done in by overreaching, fueled by a sense of entitlement. Could America's story buck that pattern? Maybe— but only if we replace our rhetoric about "the American way" with something more realistic.
Dreams of national glory and ever-increasing prosperity are important. But it's also important to be able to accept what we have. The so-called First World nations have consumed far more than their per capita share for many years. Now the two most populous nations on Earth— China and India— are questioning the prevailing norms. As they and other nations run hard to catch up, they're polluting the oceans and skies as carelessly as we used to. Sooner or later, something has to give.
Meanwhile, the upshot of Americans' tendency to shoot first and think later is the presence of American troops (I prefer to call them "people") killing and dying in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya.
Maybe it's time for America to truly lead by example. What is the price of being Number One in perpetuity? What's so terrible about being, God forbid, Number Two? What's so disastrous about redefining our definitions of upward mobility in terms of something other than firepower and material wealth?
Maybe it's time to ask ourselves why we need what we think we need. Maybe it's time to re-examine the notion that each generation must be more prosperous than the previous one.
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