Victor Davis Hanson: Hope and Change Amid Despair - Reports of America's demise are greatly...

National Review Online ^ | March 20, 2008 | Victor Davis Hanson

[neverdem]

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March 20, 2008, 0:00 a.m.

Hope and Change Amid Despair
Reports of America's demise are greatly exaggerated.

By Victor Davis Hanson

‘I think the magic is over.” That’s what French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner recently said about the United States’ global reputation.

It’s never been a great idea to rely on the assessments of French politicians, but the daily news coming out of the U.S. — in terms of our image overseas and beyond — does indeed seem bleak.

Oil has climbed over $100 a barrel. Gas is nearing $4 a gallon. Gold is at $1,000 an ounce — a telltale sign the public is losing trust in paper money, stocks, and bonds.

Housing prices still slump. Foreclosures are on the rise. The huge Wall Street firm Bear Stearns nearly collapsed before being bought out for a fraction of its former worth.

Seven years ago, the Euro was worth about 90 cents. Now it’s soared past $1.50. Staples like wheat and corn cost more than at anytime in our history. Foreign creditors hold $12 trillion in U.S. government securities, the result of decades of staggering trade deficits.

We are still fighting to secure constitutional governments in Afghanistan and Iraq. Iran, contrary to headlines drawn from the recent National Intelligence Estimate, is likely still betting the U.S. can’t prevent it from getting the bomb.

No one knows how many illegal aliens are in the United States — 11? 15? 18 million? — only that we can neither go on with open borders nor apparently close them.

Only a third of the public approves of the Bush administration. The ratings of Congress are even lower.

Our self-proclaimed reformers turn out to have feet of clay. New York governor Eliot Spitzer made a career of taking on Wall Street greed — in between spending laundered money on high-priced call girls.

Sen. Barack Obama promised a new politics of racial healing and political honesty. Yet despite eloquent speeches, he still cannot adequately explain why for 20 years he attended and subsidized a church whose fiery preacher spewed the worst sort of racial hatred and divisiveness.

So, is the “magic over”?

Not quite yet. The remedies for our current maladies require a moderate curbing of our extravagant lifestyle and voracious consumption. Given the vast size of the U.S. economy, we could easily restrain spending and begin paying off our debts at a rapid clip. Inflation and unemployment are still relatively low.

Over 94 percent of Americans with home mortgages meet their monthly obligations. More Americans own homes than ever before. More immigrants seek out America than any other nation.

We have not been hit by terrorists in over six years. And, slowly, both Afghanistan and Iraq are showing political progress and declining violence, despite recent suicide bombings.

In a relative sense, our problems pale in comparison to our past world wars and depressions, or those of our current competitors.



Unlike the United States, which is funding democratic change in Afghanistan and Iraq, Russia and China offer only brutal solutions to quench Islamic separatists in Chechnya and Xinjiang province. Neither country can square economic progress with human rights. Both have polluted their natural environment in ways inconceivable here.

Meanwhile, a shrinking Europe is disarmed in a dangerous world and can’t assimilate its growing minorities.

We are still the world’s third-largest petroleum producer with vast amounts of untouched oil. We have the world’s largest coal reserves. Americans could use coal and nuclear power to generate most of our electrical needs and to charge hybrid electric cars.

Our universities remain the world’s best, and we lead the world in cutting-edge technological innovation.

American elections are more wide open than ever before. Our next president will either be the first septuagenarian (when taking office), woman, or African-American in the job.

America remains a meritocracy where no one is above the law. Unlike so many other places, success is predicated more on ability than race, class, tribe, religion, or gender.

So while we exhibit outward symptoms of sickness, our inner constitution — the real barometer of the health of a civilization — is sound.

More importantly, there is a growing sense that Americans want to sacrifice to ensure our pre-eminence. Many conservatives are accepting that they can’t just cut taxes without spending limits. And many liberals are seeing that more federal programs mean more dependency and debt for our children.

Divisive race- and gender-identity politics are becoming tired. A multiracial America in a strife-filled world works. So why copy the tribal separatism and divisions of the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, or most of the Middle East?

Because the United States is so huge, free, wealthy, and dynamic, we can cause enormous problems overnight. But by the same token, we can curb these excesses quickly. The solution to so many of the hopeless headlines is entirely in our hands.

— Victor Davis Hanson is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and author, most recently, of A War Like No Other: How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War.

© 2008 TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

[Vigilantcitizen]

Bump.

[AndrewB]

Thanks I needed that.

[Borges]

“Meanwhile, a shrinking Europe is disarmed in a dangerous world and can’t assimilate its growing minorities.”

Unless Europe does something about this it’s going to effect us eventually.

[Arkansas Toothpick]

I like his optimism; I had a Reagan-esque moment there for a bit.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

I like VDH because he is always optimistic. We need more of that in the public sphere. I was talking to a far leftist at work yesterday and she was saying how happy she was that she didn’t bring any children into this miserable world. I told her that is the fundamental difference between the left and right — leftists see a bleak, miserable world that is going down, whereas conservatives have an optimistic world-view.

I would disagree, however, with VDH’s statement that “Many conservatives are accepting that they can’t just cut taxes without spending limits.” He is absolutely wrong — real conservatives don’t just want spending limits. We would much prefer lopping off 50% or more of the federal government. Our nation would be much, much better off.

[neverdem]

Ping

[Billthedrill]

So much of this - dare I say it? - malaise is a deliberate and cynical contrivance of the sundry media in an effort to sway the election. Certainly there are issues, but pardon me for stopping for a moment and reflecting back to "it's the economy, stupid" in 1992.

I'm looking for the Great Depression here and I'm just not seeing it. You know, the one with the bread lines and the guys jumping out of buildings, the Okies, the Dust Bowl, and "Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?" - that Great Depression. This one features gasoline prices so high they might tempt you to buy a new car. It just isn't the same thing.

Yes, the real estate bubble is deflating and the dollar is undergoing a major adjustment. Both things needed to happen. My greatest fear with this is not that it will permanently damage my country, because it won't - my fear is that it won't go on long enough to make the necessary changes.

I think that everyone is likely to be shocked at how the situation improves right around next January should a Democrat win the Presidential election, much in the same sense that the recession of 2001 was ascribed to, of all people, Bush. This is shameless pap and the people selling it know it.

[John Robie]

The author is naive. Our country has serious problems thanks to our 80 year move toward socialism. Our media is dominated by leftists and other biased ideologues. Both parties are in favor of more government intrusions. Our dollar is worth less than Canada's, and we are selling our national security to the PRC and other foreign entanglements. I do not share the blind optimism.

[Tolik]

    Victor Davis Hanson Ping ! 

       Let me know if you want in or out.

Links:    FR Index of his articles:  http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=victordavishanson
                His website: http://victorhanson.com/
                NRO archive: http://www.nationalreview.com/hanson/hanson-archive.asp
                Pajamasmedia:   http://victordavishanson.pajamasmedia.com/

[AmericaUnite]

Thanks I needed that.

[nascarnation]

Anybody who lived thru the mid 70s and early 80s will understand these cycles happen.
My Dad who was a teenager during the Depression always counseled me to appreciate the important things in life.

[listenhillary]

[listenhillary]

So much of this - dare I say it? - malaise is a deliberate and cynical contrivance of the sundry media in an effort to sway the election.

You nailed it. Just what I have been thinking.

[oldbrowser]

So much of this - dare I say it? - malaise is a deliberate and cynical contrivance of the sundry media in an effort to sway the election.

Absolutely. The media is mentally ill.

[AxelPaulsenJr]

Besides which, WE ARE DOOMED!

[westmichman]

“So much of this - dare I say it? - malaise is a deliberate and cynical contrivance of the sundry media in an effort to sway the election. Certainly there are issues, but pardon me for stopping for a moment and reflecting back to “it’s the economy, stupid” in 1992. “

Exactly! The media wants the economy to be bad in the worst way because they know that the Iraq war will not be much of an issue by November.
Another example is how they keep dumping this global warming hysteria on us when they know there is not enough time to disprove it before they take control of the economy.

[TruthConquers]

I see the same under current of economic weakness as you do. But with a certain amount of hard choices things could be turned around. Politically, I don’t see that happening, the status quo is too entrenched. But Davis is right that if the problems were tackled, the US could be much better off. I just don’t see anyone realizing that the dollar value is not going to improve with continued increase of the money supply. It’s a shame that this is happening during an election cycle, the MSM has cried “wolf” too often. (and even they don’t realize they have some of it right! They don’t want the changes that are necessary either.)

[longtermmemmory]

I wish victor would do his take on the DBM. How they have failed the vision of the founding fathers and have become cheeleaders for the pinkos.

[John Robie]

I agree. The media is certainly not offering anything productive to the current situation.