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Jan. 8, 2009

Stratfor Geopolitical Intelligence Report: Arab regimes secretly rooting for Israel?

Larry Elder: Israelis and Palestinians: Who's David, Who's Goliath?

Jeff Jacoby: Yes, it's anti-Semitism

Jan. 7, 2009

Jonah Goldberg: Who are the real Nazis?

Anne Applebaum: Pointless Peace Proposals

Jan. 6, 2009

Caroline B. Glick: Iran's Gazan diversion?

Dennis Prager: Dissecting Dershowitz

Jan. 5, 2009

Mark Steyn: Gaza has its version of rocket scientists

Mona Charen: The So-called International Community

Jan. 2, 2009

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: Having a holy tongue

Caroline B. Glick : Hamas' march to victory

Dec. 31, 2008

Dore Gold: Is Israel Using 'Disproportionate Force'?

Renee Enna:: Succulent 'stewp' is quick, easy fix

Dec. 30, 2008

Jonathan Mark: Israel's Response Is Disproportionate

Wesley Pruden: It's time once more to blame the Jews

Dec. 29, 2008

Rabbi Hillel Goldberg: Chanukah: 'Give me Judaism or give me death'

Michael B. Oren: A crisis and an opportunity

Dec. 26, 2008

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: When the past meets the future

Caroline B. Glick: Iran and Hamas do Christmas

Dec. 24, 2008

Rabbi Dovid Zauderer: Judaism's Santa problem

The Kosher Gourmet by Ethel G. Hofman CHANUKAH FORK-FINGER FOOD FEAST

Dec. 23, 2008

Caroline B. Glick: Repeating failure in Gaza

Dec. 22, 2008

Rabbi Boruch Leff: Too many Jews today are missing the intended purpose of one of Judaism's most beloved holidays

Barry Rubin: Liar, liar, pants on cease-fire

Dec. 19, 2008

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The Final Battlefield

Caroline B. Glick: Betting on a dead horse

Dec. 18, 2008

The Kosher Gourmet by Steve Petusevsky: Juicy Chef's hella top, hella bottom, hallelujah in the middle

Craig Crossman : More gifts for geeks --- and those who love them

Dec. 17, 2008

Dion Nissenbaum: Israel kicks out outrageously biased UN official

Craig Crossman : Gifts for geeks --- and those who love them

Dec. 16, 2008

Jonathan Rosenblum: The Gift of Joy

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Uncle Shariah

Dec. 15, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : Expert witnesses who put themselves first

Barry Rubin: What they say isn't what you hear

Dec. 12, 2008

Rabbi Hillel Goldberg: Can the Bible be a secular language?

Caroline B. Glick: What a PM Netanyahu faces from Washington

Dec. 11, 2008

Rabbi Leiby Burnham: Our role in the Divine's global corporation, World Inc.

The Kosher Gourmet by Steve Petusevsky: A retro-tasting pareve pot pie made with a light hand

Dec. 10, 2008

Rabbi Paysach J. Krohn: Groom admits he was caught "red handed"

Kara McGuire: No money for gifts? No problem

Dec. 9, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : Can I make my boss treat me fairly?

Stratfor Geopolitical Intelligence Report: Next Steps in the Indo-Pakistani Crisis

Dec. 8, 2008

Rabbi Avi Shafran: 'Chanukah Bush' flap and graciousness

Mark Steyn: Jews get killed, but Muslims feel vulnerable

Dec. 5, 2008

Rabbi A. Henach Leibowitz: Truth --- The Key to Gratitude

Jeff Jacoby: UN's obsession is grotesque and Orwellian

Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review June 23, 2008 / 20 Sivan 5768

Americans should count their blessings

By Paul Johnson


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | One of history's great lessons that everyone in business ought to learn is that nothing is permanent. The world and its component parts are changing all the time, and this year's league tables are outdated by the time they're compiled and published.


The U.S.' long period of expansion has ended, and a time of turbulence and recession has begun. How long will this last? My view is that within a year the worst will be over — unless the country indulges in a spasm of "reforms" that impose restrictive controls on the banking industry and businesses. Overreaction to downturns and adversity is always damaging. The Enron scandal, for example, encouraged an antibusiness and antiwealth culture in the Department of Justice that has done nothing but harm. We must guard against allowing the recent mistakes of bankers to generate an antibanking climate or the excesses of the real estate market to persuade the public that investing in property is foolish. As long as the U.S. maintains its creative traditions of freedom, especially in the conduct of business, it has nothing to fear in the medium or long term. It will still — insofar as such distant projections can be made — be the world's strongest and richest society by midcentury and, indeed, by century's end. The U.S. works — so let's not try to fix it!


A decade ago Russia looked to be almost down and out. Now it's riding the crest of the oil boom with arrogance and a disposition toward reviving its imperialist ambitions in the Caucasus and central Asia. However, I am reminded of that famous mid-19th-century saying, often attributed to Austrian statesman Metternich: "Russia is never as strong as it looks; Russia is never as weak as it looks." Oil prices go up and up, but when they come down they often do so surprisingly fast and without much warning. A country that pins its strength on the current value of one important but volatile commodity is not wisely led.


Of more serious long-term import is the quantitative and qualitative deterioration of Russia's population: its very low birth rates; some of the world's highest abortion figures; and worrying indicators in many areas of health and the tendency of Russians, especially males, to die in late middle age from alcohol-related problems suggest a society that is collectively sick in ways that could become catastrophic if not attended to. What will Russia look like by midcentury? It's frightening to contemplate.


China looms large on the eastern horizon, flooding the world with its cheap exports; producing impressive figures in production, investment and modernization; and striding confidently about the world stage. It's planning a tremendous show at this summer's Olympic Games in Beijing, which will in all probability create an impression of strength and efficiency.


But Mother Nature has reminded us that China remains vulnerable. The recent earthquake drew attention to much that is gimcrack about modern China — from the quality of the concrete used in buildings, especially in the housing and schools of the poor, to the organization of its emergency services, which are better at posing in smart uniforms for propaganda shots than at getting aid to where it's needed.


The earthquake also brought into question the wisdom of constructing huge dams to provide electricity and water for rapid industrialization in a country where such powerful earthquakes are common. Building impressive dams, regardless of consequences, is a characteristic of Communist societies. When the U.S.S.R. collapsed, the outside world became aware of how ecologically destructive and economically inefficient the Soviets' Big Dam policy in central Asia was. China seems determined to make similar mistakes.


For these reasons I am skeptical of Russia's current strength and China's relentless expansion.


What of Europe? Traveling Americans are wont to compare the strength of the euro with the weakness of the dollar, drawing critical conclusions about the way Washington runs things. But Europe isn't exactly a group of healthy societies.

  • Britain is undergoing turbulence similar to that in the U.S. but will likely take much longer to emerge from it. Its political parties are in complete disarray.

  • France is beset by strikes, high unemployment and bitter public feeling over rising prices and the lack of opportunities for the young. The vast number of 18-to-25-year-olds migrating to the London area tells its own tale of disillusionment and despair.

  • Italy seems even more desperate in its search for honest and effective government.

  • Spain, having enjoyed a decade of rapid expansion, is sliding backwards again under its weak Socialist regime.

  • Germany is in better economic shape, which is the principal reason that the euro has maintained its strength. But Germany also struggles with high unemployment, much bitterness and low public morale.


There are no political leaders of greatness on the horizon. Angela Merkel has proved a grievous disappointment. Gordon Brown has been branded a total failure after a year in office. Nicolas Sar-kozy is emerging as a lightweight. The fact that in April Italy again elected Silvio Berlusconi premier reminds me of what Dr. Johnson said of second marriages: "the triumph of hope over experience."


But the world continues to change. Some countries rise, others fall, and nothing is static. Americans have no good reason to doubt their future — and should count their blessings.

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Previously:

05/20/08: Pajamas for Presidents
05/13/08: Literary woodlice boring needless holes in biographical bedposts
04/01/08: When markets come crashing down, send for the man with the big red nose
04/01/08: Quality for dinner. Pass the Fairy Liquid, Old Boy
03/25/08: In search of an American President with brains and guts
03/18/08: Technological warfare against mice won't work. Try cats
03/11/08: What is a genius? We use the word frequently but surely, to guard its meaning, we should bestow it seldom
03/03/08: Fiction as a crutch to get one through life
02/26/08: Impatience + Greed = Trouble
02/13/08: Shakespeare, Neo-Platonism and Princess Diana
02/07/08: Where Industry Has Failed Us
12/19/07: People who put their trust in human power delude themselves
12/12/07: What is aggression?
12/04/07: Pursuing success is not enough
11/07/07: Are famous writers accident-prone?
10/31/07: Courage needed to disarm Iran
09/20/07: Who Will Say ‘I Promise to Lay Off’?
07/24/07: Greed is safer than power-seeking
04/02/07: Benefactors must be hardheaded
03/07/07: American idealism and realpolitik
11/28/06: Space: Our ticket to survival
10/24/06: Envy is bad economics
10/11/06: Better to Borrow or Lend? Rethinking conventional wisdom
08/22/06: Don't practice legal terrorism
08/08/06: A summer rhapsody for a pedal-bike
08/03/06: Why is there no workable philosophy of music?
07/11/06: Historically speaking, energy crisis is America's opportunity
07/06/06: The misleading dimensions of persons and lives
06/06/06: First editions are not gold
05/23/06: A downright ugly man need never despair of attracting women, even pretty ones
04/25/06: Was Washington right about political parties?
04/12/06: Let's Have More Babies!
04/05/06: For the love of trains
03/29/06: Lincoln and the Compensation Culture
03/22/06: Bottle-beauties and the globalised blond beast
03/15/06: Europe's utopian hangover
03/08/06: Kindly write on only one side of the paper
02/28/06: Creators versus critics
02/21/06: The Rhino Principle

© 2006, Paul Johnson

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