Good article. I found the critique to be much more balanced and fair than most, though I see that has provoked the ire of a lot of commentors.
All nations have problems and unresolved conflicts. No nation is all “bad”. No nation is all “good”.
It’s also true that a nation’s character as perceived by other nations that is not really true of its individual citizens. It’s really easy to point fingers. I suspect most foreign travelers do not give the best impression of the nation they are from because for the most part, foreign travelers are usually wealthy. And really, are the wealthy of any nation the best representative of the attitudes and behavior of any population? Frankly, as an American myself I find wealthy Americans to be loud and obnoxious (with exception) too. They don’t really represent many Americans though.
America is certainly going through some growing pains right now. It’s not the first time, it won’t be the last. America is no different than any other nation in that regard. No nation should look to us as a model. We’re not a perfect nation, we never have been. As Obama said, our national mandate requires us to strive to become a more perfect union. The implication is a recognition that we are not. If other nations want to emulate America, it should be as that. Striving to become the absolute best of what you already are. I don’t mean more “American". I mean recognizing the absolute best of what it means to be British and UK. Develop those traits nationally while tempering the bad. Know that you will likely never get there any more than we will. Dark forces within the human condition will always seek to rise and dominate. They must be resisted and overcome again and again and again. Every push forward towards equality and justice will be met with a backlash. We must all hold the line.
Everything that’s going on now, we’ve faced before. There’s really nothing new here. If sanity prevails, in time we’ll face it again. And we’ll do our best to hold the line till equilibrium is reestablished. And then we take the next steps toward becoming that more perfect union securing the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity. We’ll be better Americans.
Personally, I never got the awe and envy leveled at America. I mean, I guess I kind of do (after all, we were primed for this after WWII) but I’ve always known it was unrealistic and transient at best. There was a time when England held that position. France too. Egypt. Babylon (and so forth). Any nation could at any time have the spotlight of the world on them, and be the go to place for people dreaming of a better life. It won’t last. It never does. And it’s never quite what you thought on the outside looking in anyway.
