The Best of Times, the Worst of Times
It hurts your head to open a newspaper like The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal or flip through your favorite websites. Television, I admit, is giving us a bit of a break because all those folks care about is the royal wedding.LOS ANGELES — As far as news is concerned, these are the best of times, these are the worst of times. It hurts your head to open a newspaper like The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal or flip through your favorite websites. Television, I admit, is giving us a bit of a break because all those folks care about is the royal wedding.
But it seems to me there are only two stories (or questions) that are worth as much time as we have to think about them:1. What, post-Cold War, is the United States’ role in the world?2. What, postindustrial age, is the role of the United States government at home?The first question is very Chinese, in the sense of being careful of what you wish for, and in the sense of China — and, next, the Middle East and North Africa — becoming part of the modern world. This is what we wanted isn’t it? The “backward” countries moving toward democracy and market capitalism? Well, they are. God, what a mess! They see us not as the great innovators or visionaries. They see us as great customers.On our own terms we have won a couple of history’s great battles. Communism collapsed, unable to sustain itself against ideas and power pushed and sustained by the United States. And the ancient, stagnant world of Arabic Islam is being pushed toward liberal democracy in idealism, chaos and blood.There have been three American victories since World War II — again by our own definitions — if you count the one we now take for granted: Europe is without armies ready to march against one another for reasons Frenchmen and Germans and the British feel but don’t understand. One of the revelations of the U.N./NATO moves against the evils of Libya is that only the United States has the military technology and expertise to take on the rather primitive militaries of countries long ago left behind — and it is possible we can’t really defeat them; that victory depends on their determination, not ours.COPYRIGHT 2011 UNIVERSAL UCLICK
WAIT, BEFORE YOU GO…If you're reading this, you probably already know that non-profit, independent journalism is under threat worldwide. Independent news sites are overshadowed by larger heavily funded mainstream media that inundate us with hype and noise that barely scratch the surface. We believe that our readers deserve to know the full story. Truthdig writers bravely dig beneath the headlines to give you thought-provoking, investigative reporting and analysis that tells you what’s really happening and who’s rolling up their sleeves to do something about it.
Like you, we believe a well-informed public that doesn’t have blind faith in the status quo can help change the world. Your contribution of as little as $5 monthly or $35 annually will make you a groundbreaking member and lays the foundation of our work.
Related stories
Lindsay Wong's debut memoir, "The Woo-Woo," is a hilarious and harrowing account of her childhood in a family with severe mental illness.
In this installment, the author applies for a job at an exploitative employment agency—one of many of its kind—that colludes with human traffickers and capitalizes on powerless immigrants.
In the final installment of The Real News Network’s series of interviews on “Reality Asserts Itself,” Truthdig Editor-in-Chief Robert Scheer explains how an infatuation with American culture and an ignorance of American history have led to unbelievable levels of brutality and destruction.
It seems the voice of the people has been heard in the Chinese village of Wukan, where residents voted to elect a committee of local leaders after winning a protracted battle for self-determination against Chinese authorities.
On Oct. 3, 19-year-old U.S. Army Pvt. Danny Chen died of a gunshot wound to the head in southern Afghanistan. The Army initially called his death a suicide. The back story now involves eight of his fellow soldiers who allegedly subjected Chen to race-based hazing.
Researchers at the ACLU recently uncovered an FBI program that uses census data to draw maps that link racial and ethnic communities to certain types of crimes. The investigations, known under the names of "assessments" and "domain management," appear to have been going on for several years. (more)
Lindsay Wong's debut memoir, "The Woo-Woo," is a hilarious and harrowing account of her childhood in a family with severe mental illness.
In this installment, the author applies for a job at an exploitative employment agency—one of many of its kind—that colludes with human traffickers and capitalizes on powerless immigrants.
In the final installment of The Real News Network’s series of interviews on “Reality Asserts Itself,” Truthdig Editor-in-Chief Robert Scheer explains how an infatuation with American culture and an ignorance of American history have led to unbelievable levels of brutality and destruction.
It seems the voice of the people has been heard in the Chinese village of Wukan, where residents voted to elect a committee of local leaders after winning a protracted battle for self-determination against Chinese authorities.
On Oct. 3, 19-year-old U.S. Army Pvt. Danny Chen died of a gunshot wound to the head in southern Afghanistan. The Army initially called his death a suicide. The back story now involves eight of his fellow soldiers who allegedly subjected Chen to race-based hazing.
Researchers at the ACLU recently uncovered an FBI program that uses census data to draw maps that link racial and ethnic communities to certain types of crimes. The investigations, known under the names of "assessments" and "domain management," appear to have been going on for several years. (more)
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.