MSNBC.COM -- Foreign investment, immigrants and other things like this... the very thing people are afraid of... these are the things that will keep America on top. Rome never thought it wouldn't be the leader of the world, same with Britain. This is why Zakaria is a genius.
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I hate the way Zakaria writes. I always have. While in the Peace Corps, we were shipped free copies of NewsWeek International and I'd pour through them. Zakaria was featured in nearly every isue.
I believe, as you state, that Zakaria is a genius. I also, believe, however, that he is unable to express his intellect to my satisfaction.
Take this essay of his entitled "How long will America lead the world?" Go back and reread it. Three mouseclicks on the MSNBC website (have I mentioned how much I DETEST the MSNBC website... the only time I ever use it is when you or someone else I know links to it from your blog... please use CNN, BBC, or even AlJazeera to find articles), which translates to probably three printed pages of 12-point text, and he never answers his own question.
The essay begins simply enough... supposing that, like Rome and Britain, America will face a downfall. Then, towards the end, he points to the fact London is fast becoming the financial center of the world, beating New York. So, Britain has fallen... only not really? He starts by listing American failings in business and population, but most of the 2nd and 3rd pages were devoted to pointing out American superiority in spite of our failings.
So, at the end of the article, his answer to the question is "maybe", though again he really never answered the question directly... the maybe comes through inference alone. In his quest to prove how smart he is, he cites a string of facts and statistics, but fails to link any of them to his main point.
I like Zakaria. When he's a guest on the round table at ABC's This Week he always has interesting things to say. But it seems to me that when he begins a sentence he isn't certain how that sentence is going to end. He doesn't clearly organize his thoughts.
Zakaria wants me to celebrate American accomplishments and the way we dominate the rest of the world, but he also wants me to be scared for our future because we are doomed to fail. That's a wishy-washy point of view.
And... a point worth repeating... he didn't even answer the question he raised. He didn't offer any solutions to the problems he perceived. He failed to even define the problems.
In my humble opinion, the rest of the world allows the United States to boast of its superiority because the fact is that everyone who makes such claims is doomed to fail. I'd like to believe that countries like Amsterdam with their four day work weeks or France with their four hour lunch breaks are far superior to workaholic America. I'd like to believe countries like Canada that have managed to peacefully develop as a society while avoiding bloody conflicts and increasing murder rates or Italy with their aversion to the death penalty and love of tradition have America on the ropes. America is fat, lazy, spoiled, and stupid... more so than many developing nations... but we're leading the world? Don't get me wrong, I love America, but the arrogance of pride does not affact me so much that it blinds me to America's societal ills.
In answer to Zakaria's question, America doesn't lead the world. It hasn't led the world in years. In the past 15 years, America has been isolating itself from even its most friendly allies (no, I don't blame Bush alone for our mess, Clinton played a huge hand in our current state of affairs). You can't name a nation we haven't pissed off recently. US foreign policy is non-existent.
The reason so many companies are building and developing in other countries is because our geo-political situation makes America a bad place to do business. No single country is leading the world right now. The EU offers the most hope of a non-America based unified economy, but only if the infighting amongst their members is curtailed. In the meantime, this planet is a ship without a captain... or a ship with too many captains. Either way, Zakaria's question is moot.
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