[lbo-talk] Anti-Americanism today

[Carl Remick]

>From: Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com>
>
>Carl Remick wrote:
>
>>At least, we'll be in trouble if much of the problem is indeed, as Sweig 
>>argues, the longstanding "near inability of the United States to see its 
>>power from the perspective of the powerless."
>
>But isn't that almost part of the definition of power? What's she expect, 
>the whole nation to go on the couch to develop self-insight?

[A little national introspection wouldn't hurt.  I should have included the 
end of the review, which is petty good:]

Americans may be bad at doing what Sweig recommends — "seeing ourselves as 
others see us" — but we're not alone in this. People in general have trouble 
putting themselves in the shoes of people whose circumstances differ from 
theirs. That's why the world is such a mess — and why succeeding at this 
task would qualify as real moral progress.

So history has put America in a position where its national security depends 
on its further moral growth. This is scary but also kind of inspiring. Maybe 
the term "American greatness" needn't have the militaristic connotations 
lately attached to it. Here, perhaps, is an exceptionalism worth aspiring 
to. But if we succeed, let's try not to brag about it.

<http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/14/books/review/14wright.html>

Carl