- Reaction score
- 5
- Points
- 430
LAWRENCE MARTIN 'When the hour is darkest, a hero will appear." -Anonymous.
For America's sake, and for our own, we'd better hope so.
On this continent, we confront strange circumstance. Canada, sound on the basis of so many barometers, is at one of its historic highpoints.
The United States, beset on so many fronts, is much the opposite.
Rarely in our bilateral history have we witnessed this. One parallel, perhaps, is the early years of Pierre Trudeau and Richard Nixon.
After Canada's centennial celebrations, the sky looked to be the limit. But the shine soon faded. We limped through the stagflation of the 1970s.
Any optimism today, any talk of a golden age, need be similarly curbed by the coincident regression of the United States. The interconnections are too many to be escaped.
Reflective of the new America was its decision in Sydney this week to forego specific targets on greenhouse gas emissions. When the lead player balks, what chance is there of real progress? Washington's choice came as no surprise - post-9/11, America acts on its own hard-nationalist impulse (with Nixon and Henry Kissinger there was detente), and damn the torpedoes.
The current U.S. plight is not something we like to dwell on.
Good neighbourliness suggests we tread gently. Raise hard questions and any number of knees will start jerking, and out will pour infantile cries of anti-Americanism. Whether it's pro- or anti- is obviously beside the point. What counts is the degree of truth.
Our future, to a degree, is on the line here. Realities must be faced: 1. Global warming . America is the world's biggest emitter and a leading foot-dragger.
2. War and peace . The Iraq quagmire.
3. Human rights . Washington was once a leading proponent, but post 9/11, think of the Geneva Conventions, of Gitmo, of Abu Ghraib, of rendition, of domestic spying.
4. The arms race . Think of Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev and the hope they stirred. Now think of unrestrained stockpiling, U.S. defence budgets that exceed all other nations combined, the weaponization of outer space.
5. Collective security . Once the world leader on this front, Washington has undermined multilateralism in recent years, breaking or spurning no less than a half-dozen international treaties or conventions.
6. Violence . America's gun culture is the most uncivilized of any civilized country. The Sept. 11 attacks killed 3,000. The country has had 100,000 gun-related deaths since.
7. Health care . The U.S. system is not Sicko, as the hyperbolized film declared, but the country, a leader in obesity, leaves no fewer than 45 million people uninsured.
8. Income equality . On the gap between the rich and the poor, no advanced country is doing worse than the world's wealthiest country.
9. Culture . Perhaps 20 per cent is inspired and marvellous, while 80 per cent is dumbed-down trash.
10. Economy . The world's most indebted nation.
The United States is still the world's leading economic engine and technological trailblazer. Its leading universities are unsurpassed.
Its founding ideals are an inspiration. Its people are terrific.
But let's not kid ourselves. The United States of today is no shining city on a hill. While many of its ills have been festering a long time and don't heavily reverberate north of the border, many are new and do. The tilt of current-day America means Canada is more inclined to be caught up in the clash of civilizations. It means more border paranoia. It means Canada could soon get dragged down economically. It means no world leadership on arms control, the environment, etc. And if there is another terrorist attack, there is no telling what the resulting hysteria will occasion.
That said, hope springs eternal south of the border. Think of two other times when America was on its back - the early 1930s and the late 1970s. Then think of the rebirths under Franklin Roosevelt and Mr. Reagan.
Can it happen again? Think of Barack Obama. Multiethnic, a builder not a divider, young enough to be uncorrupted by Washington's ways, a man of global rather than nationalist values, Lincolnesque in voice and demeanour, an embodiment of the old and great American ideals ravaged by the current leadership.
When the hour is darkest, a hero could indeed appear.
[email protected]
http://206.75.155.198/showfile.asp?Lang=E&URL=/archivenews/070913/GM/070913fg.htm
For America's sake, and for our own, we'd better hope so.
On this continent, we confront strange circumstance. Canada, sound on the basis of so many barometers, is at one of its historic highpoints.
The United States, beset on so many fronts, is much the opposite.
Rarely in our bilateral history have we witnessed this. One parallel, perhaps, is the early years of Pierre Trudeau and Richard Nixon.
After Canada's centennial celebrations, the sky looked to be the limit. But the shine soon faded. We limped through the stagflation of the 1970s.
Any optimism today, any talk of a golden age, need be similarly curbed by the coincident regression of the United States. The interconnections are too many to be escaped.
Reflective of the new America was its decision in Sydney this week to forego specific targets on greenhouse gas emissions. When the lead player balks, what chance is there of real progress? Washington's choice came as no surprise - post-9/11, America acts on its own hard-nationalist impulse (with Nixon and Henry Kissinger there was detente), and damn the torpedoes.
The current U.S. plight is not something we like to dwell on.
Good neighbourliness suggests we tread gently. Raise hard questions and any number of knees will start jerking, and out will pour infantile cries of anti-Americanism. Whether it's pro- or anti- is obviously beside the point. What counts is the degree of truth.
Our future, to a degree, is on the line here. Realities must be faced: 1. Global warming . America is the world's biggest emitter and a leading foot-dragger.
2. War and peace . The Iraq quagmire.
3. Human rights . Washington was once a leading proponent, but post 9/11, think of the Geneva Conventions, of Gitmo, of Abu Ghraib, of rendition, of domestic spying.
4. The arms race . Think of Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev and the hope they stirred. Now think of unrestrained stockpiling, U.S. defence budgets that exceed all other nations combined, the weaponization of outer space.
5. Collective security . Once the world leader on this front, Washington has undermined multilateralism in recent years, breaking or spurning no less than a half-dozen international treaties or conventions.
6. Violence . America's gun culture is the most uncivilized of any civilized country. The Sept. 11 attacks killed 3,000. The country has had 100,000 gun-related deaths since.
7. Health care . The U.S. system is not Sicko, as the hyperbolized film declared, but the country, a leader in obesity, leaves no fewer than 45 million people uninsured.
8. Income equality . On the gap between the rich and the poor, no advanced country is doing worse than the world's wealthiest country.
9. Culture . Perhaps 20 per cent is inspired and marvellous, while 80 per cent is dumbed-down trash.
10. Economy . The world's most indebted nation.
The United States is still the world's leading economic engine and technological trailblazer. Its leading universities are unsurpassed.
Its founding ideals are an inspiration. Its people are terrific.
But let's not kid ourselves. The United States of today is no shining city on a hill. While many of its ills have been festering a long time and don't heavily reverberate north of the border, many are new and do. The tilt of current-day America means Canada is more inclined to be caught up in the clash of civilizations. It means more border paranoia. It means Canada could soon get dragged down economically. It means no world leadership on arms control, the environment, etc. And if there is another terrorist attack, there is no telling what the resulting hysteria will occasion.
That said, hope springs eternal south of the border. Think of two other times when America was on its back - the early 1930s and the late 1970s. Then think of the rebirths under Franklin Roosevelt and Mr. Reagan.
Can it happen again? Think of Barack Obama. Multiethnic, a builder not a divider, young enough to be uncorrupted by Washington's ways, a man of global rather than nationalist values, Lincolnesque in voice and demeanour, an embodiment of the old and great American ideals ravaged by the current leadership.
When the hour is darkest, a hero could indeed appear.
[email protected]
http://206.75.155.198/showfile.asp?Lang=E&URL=/archivenews/070913/GM/070913fg.htm
