I’ve been a fan of The Economist since my last year of high school (a while back; it’s the year Ferris Bueller’s Day Off was released); it would be the magazine I’d point to if asked which publication was best aligned with my socio-politico-complexo-migraino worldview.
The cover editorial from the current issue, Still No. 1, shows the Economist’s trademarked sensible Americanophilia and is a pretty good summary of where the U.S. — now my home away from home — stands.
Here’s an excerpt; it’s the final paragraph in the editorial:
If America were a stock, it would be a “buy”: an undervalued market leader, in need of new management. But that points to its last great strength. More than any rival, America corrects itself. Under pressure from voters, Mr Bush has already rediscovered some of the charms of multilateralism; he is talking about climate change; a Middle East peace initiative is possible. Next year’s presidential election offers a chance for renewal. Such corrections are not automatic: something (a misadventure in Iran?) may yet compound the misery of Iraq in the same way Watergate followed Vietnam. But America recovered from the 1970s. It will bounce back stronger again.
Good stuff. Be sure to check it out.
One reply on “America: Still Number One”
Just to be clear here, the “misadventure in Iran” involves nuclear bombs of unimaginable destructive power being dropped on millions of innocent people (you can argue all you want about how many guilty people.) Clearly, though, that’s not as fun-sounding as “misadventure”