A Nation Apart [Possibly The Longest Article Posted]

The Economist ^ | 11/6/03 | John Parker

[RippleFire]

bump

[TheRightGuy]

Bump 'till the book comes out.

That wasn't the whole book??

[JohnHuang2]

Mega pinged as you requested.

[Valin]

But the president went further, seeking to change America's culture and values in ways that would make the country still more distinctive.

I couldn't disagree more with this. The values he has been espousing (particularly since 9-11) are nothing more than the bedrock values of the American people.

[Grampa Dave]

This is the book.

[GeronL]

What are you doing online in the day time?? what am I doing online in the daytime for that matter??

[Valin]

There's a book written a number of years ago called "The Nine Nations of North America" that you might be intrested in reading.

[JohnHuang2]

Who am I? Why am I here? hehe ;-)

G'morning, amigo

[Pan_Yans Wife]

bump

[Valin]

Aren't you assuming that with the raising of peoples living standards they would accept the same old "tinpot dictators"?

For better or worse this old planet is a very small place and getting smaller everyday.

[ArneFufkin]

The sidebar in this article refutes the notion that the "Rust Belt" states are becoming more Democrat.

[Rummyfan]

Bump for later read.

[zeugma]

Bump for later read when I have a couple of hours to burn.

[Mike Darancette]

What the Erro's don't understand is that American wealth and productivity IS our weapon of mass destruction.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Is this some kind of Freeper filibuster?

[WOSG]

Great comments.

There is one that stood out in a hairs-on-spine kind of way:
American churches are healthy because we are not a monopoly-state-run church society. The whole central core idea is --- Freedom. That is the American "exceptionalism". Sad that it is deemed exceptional, as it is how the whole world should be run!

[GeronL]

I went to bed early last night, in the first quarter actually-just like the Steelers!- and I woke up at 3AM after having the oddest dream... I wrote it down but I think it was just part one of an epic!

[logos]

Thanks for pinging me to this well-thought-out article; there is much here with which I agree. Concerning the snippet you brought to my attention...

The two kinds of religious exceptionalism are connected. Rather as in the economic sphere competing private companies tend to produce wealth and activity, whereas monopoly firms have the opposite effect, so in the religious sphere competing sects generate a ferment of activity and increased levels of belief, whereas state churches produce indifference....

...I have long thought there is usually more than mere contention in the many church schisms over the centuries. Just looking at American history, for example, from about 200 years ago, most church splits resulted in the departing faction "moving west", thereby not only helping to extend the American frontier, but also in spreading the gospel.

Current church contentions may be a bit more difficult to categorize, however, if only because here in America no visible frontier still exists. Further, whereas the American church once "led the world" in evangelism and forward thinking, it now brings up the rear, running ahead, so to speak, only of Western Europe. The strength of the church in the world now lies in Africa and the Far East, at least so far as I can tell. In fact, the South Korean Presbyterian Church has had official discussions about sending evangelists to the US in order to "convert the heathen". Some would say that they're too late...

Again, thanks for bringing my attention to this most interesting article.

[Lazamataz]

Can I wait for the movie?

Yeah, but it's a trilogy.

[expat_panama]

we find ourselves on opposing sides of a war, like is going to happen in Israel for instance?

What makes you think for a second that an economically equal Germany will not join forces with China?

Are you naive enough to really think, after starting two world wars, that Germany's spots have changed?

So now we have no control over who's military we choose to build up?

Have you ever heard ONE SINGLE WORD of gratitude out of any of them?

Wow that's a lot of questions-- I'm afraid they're going to take me a while.  But in the meantime let's not question each other's patriotism and let's agree that a militarily strong America is good.  The article was talking about economic parity and not military parity.  Now, you are right if you point out that military conflicts are usually won by the richest coalition.  We agree.  Now let's figure out how to make the US be rich and powerful.

In 1950 we weren't "the super power" and now we are-- and that is good.  You may not agree with my belief that we are more powerful now because of our success in encouraging the growth of the world's economy, but please don't say that helping along the general world's well-being  hurt us.

Today my family will eat better because I invested in a Norwegian shipping company (FRO), a Mexican tech store (EKT), as well as bunch of really neat US companies.  Every year many thousands of dollars of wealth that I created go to Washington to pay for our defense (as well as NPR and AMTRAK but that's a different thread).   That's why I would just as soon have the rest of the world better off; it makes  me better off, and the US treasury better off.  I don't really care if anyone (China or you) is grateful, I just want to feed my family and keep America strong.