[Treebeard]

I don't think I want to live in a world where we *aren't* the biggest power on the block.

[freedomcrusader]

I don't think I want to live in a world where we *aren't* the biggest power on the block.

Beat me to it! My sentiments EXACTLY!!

[Remole]

I agree. I've lived in the third world for a few years and in Europe for 6 years. But I have no experience with Asia. But I think someone should ask Bill: who else is there? Right now among academic circles there is a lively debate about who is right: Hutchinson's Clash of Civilizations or Fukayama's The End of History; but no one doubts that Western pluralistic democracy is the growing and not the declining trend in the world. And the USA is the engine for that trend, not only economically but also intellectually. There are some Western cultures that have some elements superior to ours, e.g., the beauty, pace, cuisine and wines of Tuscany; but all in all, these Western cultures agree on the kind of world and society that is best suited for human excellence.

So I am wondering what is Bill's alternative to Western pluralistic democracy? Does he think that human culture is superior in the village governance structure of Subsaharan Africa? Does he think that humans excell most wonderfully in the command economy of North Korea? Does he think that people live more in peace and fulfillment in the anxiety pool of Japan? Or would he prefer the apocalyptic movements of the Bekka Valley (Lebanon)? the pinched and narrow swathe of history preached in the mosques of Arabia? or perhaps the many places on earth where the individual does not exist except as an element whose whole existence is to live and move and have one's being in conformity with the great Weal?

In sum, somebody has got to pose direct concrete questions to this person (and his harridan of a wife), because they allow their pillowy prose to give the impression that they are smart when in reality they are utopians with a thesaurus.