This is another fine article by Victor Davis Hanson. It is on the American Decline, or rather Obama’s lust for American Decline and how unnecessary a tragedy it will be ig he gets his wish. For example:
A recent report in The New Yorker suggested that the Obama’s administration’s weird sort of/sort of not foreign policy is now gleefully self-described as “leading from behind.” Not exercising leadership is a reflection, the article suggests, of Obama’s view that the U.S. is both disliked and in decline. Decline?
Here are some tidbits from the Ryan Lizza adulatory piece. The following I think is meant as a compliment:
“The one consistent thread running through most of Obama’s decisions has been that America must act humbly in the world. Unlike his immediate predecessors, Obama came of age politically during the post-Cold War era, a time when America’s unmatched power created widespread resentment. Obama believes that highly visible American leadership can taint a foreign-policy goal just as easily as it can bolster it.”
I supposed eliminating “unmatched power” would also eliminate “widespread resentment” — in that few are envious of the failed.
“One of his advisers described the President’s actions in Libya as ‘leading from behind.’ That’s not a slogan designed for signs at the 2012 Democratic Convention, but it does accurately describe the balance that Obama now seems to be finding. It’s a different definition of leadership than America is known for, and it comes from two unspoken beliefs: that the relative power of the U.S. is declining, as rivals like China rise, and that the U.S. is reviled in many parts of the world. Pursuing our interests and spreading our ideals thus requires stealth and modesty as well as military strength. ‘It’s so at odds with the John Wayne expectation for what America is in the world,’ the adviser said. ‘But it’s necessary for shepherding us through this phase.’”
What the hell is “this phase”? Where are we “reviled” and by whom? Syria? Russia? Yemen? Somalia? Cuba?
Damning with gratitous praise, that is. Who will envy us if we have an eviscerated and embattled military, a declining standard of living, and a collapsed economy? All of these are logical consequences of Obama Administration policies either now in effect or planned. And what the hell is “this phase”, indeed. As I always say, if he were trying to destroy America, what would he be doing differently?
He admonishes the Administration:
President Obama, listen carefully. By every benchmark, this should be an American century. Our known fossil fuel reserves are soaring, as new finds of coal, natural gas, oil, tar sands, and oil shale keep growing, not shrinking. Demographically, we are expanding; Europe, Japan, and China are shrinking.
We do not have the strikes of Europe, the violence of the Middle East, the state oppression of China. India has religious, social, and caste tensions unknown in the U.S. American farmland is the most productive in the world, its farmers the most gifted and innovative. We inherited a vast, developed infrastructure; out duty is to improve and expand it, not, as our ancestors had to, start from scratch building a Hoover Dam, intercontinental railroad, or port facilities in Oakland.
I remember growing up in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and the sheer amount of wealth creation since then staggers the imagination.
We are the pinnacle of Civilization, and Obama would crash us down into Third World depths to satisfy his weird sense of “social” justice. Mr.Hanson asks “…why does Mr. Obama see us in decline? Is it a wish rather than a descriptive assessment?” I believe it is a wish, and Obama is doing his level best to bring it about. He may, indeed succeed, but it is not inevitable. The voters will have a say in that too, in 554 Days, in November.
Tags: VDH, Victor Davis Hanson
