Clicking on banner ads enables JWR to constantly improve
Jewish World Review July 17, 2002 /8 Menachem-Av, 5762

Mort Zuckerman

Mort Zuckerman
JWR's Pundits
World Editorial
Cartoon Showcase

Mallard Fillmore

Michael Barone
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Don Feder
Suzanne Fields
Paul Greenberg
Bob Greene
Betsy Hart
Nat Hentoff
David Horowitz
Marianne Jennings
Michael Kelly
Mort Kondracke
Ch. Krauthammer
Lawrence Kudlow
Dr. Laura
John Leo
David Limbaugh
Michelle Malkin
Chris Matthews
Michael Medved
MUGGER
Kathleen Parker
Wes Pruden
Sam Schulman
Amity Shlaes
Tony Snow
Thomas Sowell
Cal Thomas
Jonathan S. Tobin
Ben Wattenberg
George Will
Bruce Williams
Walter Williams
Mort Zuckerman

Consumer Reports

What scandal cannot dim

http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | Tanking stock market. Forest fires. Wall Street scandals. And looming over all that the menace of terrorism. Has ever our Independence Day had quite so many shadows? Yet we celebrated with a special depth of feeling this year, reflecting the innate sense of patriotism and pride that binds our brilliantly diverse nation. It is utterly right to look beyond the shadows as they seem to deepen. What can we see by dawn's early light?

First and foremost, a society that has pursued the ideals of freedom, human dignity, the rule of law, democracy, and private enterprise well enough to achieve a better life for more people than in any other society in history.

At home, we have opened our arms to millions of immigrants, producing the most racially, ethnically, and religiously diverse and tolerant country on the planet. Our free-market economy has provided unparalleled and unprecedented upward mobility. It grows out of a culture that has long valued individualism, innovation, and common sense rather than ideology, a culture that nourishes its mavericks, cherishes its young, welcomes newcomers, and is dramatically open to energy and talent rising from the bottom up. We value merit and achievement more than inheritance and social standing.

Yes, we have had certain advantages of geography in the size of our continent and our numbers, which have given us a huge marketplace with all the economies of scale, but geography and population would never have been enough if we had not practiced freedom-freedom of movement, freedom of choice, a readiness among millions to move physically and psychologically through education. No other country has a people so inclined to self-help, self-improvement, and even self-renovation.

That is why America's culture is uniquely suited to today's rapidly changing, knowledge-based economy. This bottom-up, open economic environment is tantamount to a giant information-processing system that enhances our capacity to absorb, adapt, and manage the dynamic and highly complex revolutions in technology, information, and logistics.

Talent rules. Yes, we have suffered a series of troubling scandals recently, but our system is sound. America's financial system is unmatched in providing the money to back good ideas, a market to allocate investments to firms that seem likely to maximize returns rather than what commonly prevails elsewhere, the lending to friends or relying on established corporate relationships. Our merit-based system funds the future, not the past; the new, and not the old.

All this economic energy is buttressed by a rough consensus in public policy that supports the view that the private sector, not the government, must make the majority of strategic and practical business decisions. And American workers do their part in adaptability and mobility, for they understand that their employment and success today depend far more on global competitiveness than on government subsidy.

For all these reasons, America is a magnet-a magnet for money seeking investment and a magnet for people, for scientifically trained foreign workers who vote with their feet and seek to immigrate here.

But America is not simply an economic success story. It is an example of ethics in action. This is the most generous society in the world. Charitable giving is four or five times greater as a percentage of income than in any other country. This is not just a reflection of the great foundations and prolific corporate sponsorship. Private giving by ordinary citizens is by far the greatest element in our country. Volunteerism runs high.

So does the spirit of equality. We are committed uniquely to mass higher education, to the emancipation of women, and to the elimination of discrimination in overcoming the appalling heritage of slavery.

Given all this, America might well be an insular nation, smug and content. But not so. We have extended the hand of friendship in the cause of common humanity and the fist in the cause of freedom. In the 20th century, we saved the West from fascism in Europe and Asia, and then we saved nations yet again from the global ambitions of Soviet communism. Today, our unrivaled military predominance is the indispensable component in saving civilization from terrorism and preserving international stability in the face of overt aggression.

The penalty for our wealth, our culture-our virtues, if you like-is envy among more people than we ever cared to imagine, disparate centers of religious and anarchic hatred that fear the power of freedom, of human rights, and of optimism. We will resist them, and we will overcome so that America will remain, as the Pilgrim John Winthrop once described it, the light of the world and a city set upon the hill. And that is what we celebrate.

Like this writer's work? Why not sign-up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.


JWR contributor Mort Zuckerman is editor-in-chief and publisher of U.S. News and World Report. Send your comments to him by clicking here.

Up


06/18/02: Time to crack down: Where is the outrage?
06/05/02: The next new thing
04/30/02: Roller-coaster nation
04/25/02: A critical tipping point
04/15/02: Israel's endgame will impact the free world
03/21/02: In the face of pure evil
03/14/02: A man on a mission
03/07/02: Land of the Sinking Sun
02/12/02: Speaking truth about energy
01/15/02: Putting our house in order
01/12/02: Talking points for 2002
12/24/01: The shape of things to come
12/11/01: Finally, a clarity of vision
12/04/01: Apocalypse now
11/26/01: The Big Apple's core
11/06/01: What it will take to win
10/22/01: Getting the mayor's message
10/08/01: A remedy for repair
10/01/01: A question of priorities
09/26/01: Our mission, our moment
09/11/01: Running the asylum
08/29/01: Hail, brave consumer
06/14/01: Blackouts --- or blackmail?
06/01/01: A time to reap --- and sow
05/25/01: A question of confidence
05/18/01: A question of confidence
05/04/01: Making the grade
04/26/01: The caribou conundrum
04/19/01: Chinese boomerang
03/27/01: The man of the moment
03/20/01: The Fed must be bold
03/15/01: Japan on the brink
03/01/01: Rethinking the next war
02/09/01: The education paradox
01/08/01: How the bottom fell out
01/03/01: Quipping in the new year
12/20/00: A time for healing
11/13/00: The need for legitimacy
10/30/00: Arafat's bloody cynicism
10/18/00: Arafat torches peace
10/03/00: A great step backward
09/08/00: The Perfect Storm
08/29/00: Don't blow the surplus
08/15/00: Voting for grown-ups
08/01/00: Arafat's lack of nerve
07/17/00: Can there be a new peace between old enemies? Or will new enemies regress to an old state of war?
07/11/00: A time to celebrate
06/19/00: A bit of straight talk
06/08/00: Using hate against Israel
05/26/00: Is the Federal Reserve trigger-happy?
04/18/00: Tensions on the 'Net
04/13/00: A paranoid power
03/10/00: Fuel prices in the red zone
02/25/00: Web wake-up call
02/18/00: Back to the future
01/21/00: Whistling while we work
01/11/00: Loose lips, fast quips
12/23/99: The times of our lives
12/14/99: Hey, big spender
11/18/99: Fountain of Youth
11/04/99: An impossible partner
10/14/99: A nation divided
10/05/99: India at center stage
09/21/99: Along with good cops, we need a better probation system
09/08/99: Though plundered and confused, Russia can solve its problems
08/31/99: The military should spend more on forces and less on facilities
08/05/99: Squandering the surplus
07/06/99: More than ever, America's unique promise is a reality
06/24/99: The time has come to hit the brakes on affirmative action
06/15/99: America should take pride in honoring its responsibilities
06/02/99: The Middle Kingdom shows its antagonistic side
05/11/99: Technology's transforming power is giving a lift to everything
05/04/99: The big game gets bigger
04/30/99: On Kosovo, Russia talked loudly and carried a small stick
04/21/99: No time to go wobbly
04/13/99: The Evil of two lessers

© 2001, Mortimer Zuckerman