« Female business | Main | 1978-2008 »
September 10, 2008
Rise and fall
I keep reading and hearing that if it wasn't clear already that America was in decline, the signs have surely arrived this week. The Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac near meltdown and subsequent bailout lost the U.S. clout and proved that we're not the economic powerhouse that we once were. The super collider should have been built in Texas. We chose to surrender the mantle of scientific leadership because it cost too much to maintain.
I'm not sure what to make of these claims. In "Democracy in America," Alexis De Toqueville described two views of American change that competed for dominance in the first half of the 1800s. Many saw American history as an upward march toward progress. Many believed the nation was in decline. Today both views still seem to butt heads. I bemoan our country's failures and laud it's successes constantly, depending on my mood.
How well can we even understand the historical moment in which we live?
Maybe we are in decline. I don't know. If so, I just hope the decline is a gradual downward drift, gentle and painless, and not a sudden drop. I've enjoyed living in a time of prosperity. Decline does not necessarily bring an end to prosperity, though, right?
Britain's been through it, and so have France and Spain and Belgium. Turkey, too, for that matter. It seems as though people, civilizations, societies, all manage to advance and thrive and survive despite it all.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at September 10, 2008 09:34 PM