Forces shaping America's destiny

The Norman Transcript

July 30, 2005 12:30 am

— For The Transcript

Time has a way of quietly closing our options. The days seem to slip by slowly, but they add up to
accelerating years. As individuals and as a nation we have so much to do with so little time in which to do it.
And grievous problems bedevil us all; although there is no doubt that those of the president are especially
heavy. Three fleeting years, beset by the unforeseen and the unknown, are about all he has left to deal with
them. When struggling with national and international problems three years is all too brief, for those in power
pass from office and drift in the direction of obscurity.
Not many American presidents deserve to be called "great." We would probably all agree that Washington
and Lincoln deserve the title, but controversy abounds and a few have been rascals; one or two probably
deserve the title "scoundrel" at worst and "inept" at best. Political party labels and symbols tell us very little;
what they signify is frequently ceremonial, often verbal rituals and platitudes intended to rally the hesitant and
solidify the believers. Perhaps the best way to gauge officials is to assess critically what they do ? or don't
do ? always keeping a skeptical ear attuned to what they say. Do they serve selective cliques or the public?
Whom do they favor and reward and on what grounds? How do they spend public money? Are their tax
proposals equitable or supportive of vested interests? Do their professions of faith correspond to what they
do? Specifically, are they bringing the nation together and contributing to the long-term welfare of the
people?
In a world as involved and convoluted as ours, what can the chief executive of the U.S. do in a brief three
years? In view of the times perhaps his principal responsibilities are in foreign affairs. The prospects of
nuclear war and the proliferation of nuclear bombs call for unremitting attention. There are many other
problems before our nation, but this one is primary. If these things get out of hand other difficulties become
academic. Those surviving, if anyone, an exchange of nuclear bombs and uncontrolled radiation will have
little to debate and life will have very little meaning. True, we are powerful enough to blow up any portion of
the world we choose, even the whole planet. But we enjoy no monopoly. Other countries have the bomb. One
country purloined it from us with deft espionage; we probably gave it to another one. Others have developed
it on their own. And Iran and North Korea seem to be on the brink of mastering the required techniques. Since
mathematics, chemistry and physics are universally understood disciplines, we should not be surprised. There
are other reasons why the American President should maintain a cooperative relationship with foreign
governments, but keeping the nuclear genie under control is his first challenge and obligation.
The main obstacles standing in the way of enlightened leadership and aggressive efforts to contain the dangers
of the future are twofold: insight restricted by economic privilege and education that does not train habitually
to think critically. Intensifying this problem is another infirmity, the na?ve and arrogant notion that since we
are the most powerful nation in the world we should run the world.
There is an influential clique in Washington, tied to the industrial-business community and reinforced by
segments of the military that share this view of omnipotence. And their politics is guided by this notion. Here
is arrogance, and arrogance is a dangerous, even lethal, attitude. We are superior only in an industrial military
sense and that dominance is waning. China and India seem to be the powers of the future. Their potential is
enormous; their influence is growing; and we are dismantling our industrial machine as we diminish
resources, run out of petroleum and send production overseas in the name of free trade.
As if all this is not enough, climate warming, over-population, flourishing diseases and the recrudescence of
old ones like TB and the relative diminishment of needed water beset the world and impinge on us. That
China is four times our population and India at least three times larger seems to modify little Washington
policy. And the Potomac bureaucrats seem to have forgotten FDR's "Good Neighbor Policy" that did so much
to meliorate ill-will in the Western Hemisphere. Like it or not Asia is the coming industrial-political center of
gravity in the world. What they want is likely to carry more weight than what we want. The Near East is not
about to adopt "American Democracy," even at the point of an AK-47. Their religion is different; their social
philosophy is different; their political traditions are different; and their conservatism is of a different
character. What they want is the conservative tradition of Islamic theocracy. They will adopt American values
about the same time American evangelicals become Moslems or the College of Cardinals join the Southern
Baptist Convention. But in any case our seeming indifference to the wishes of foreign countries will not do;
our attention must be attuned to their views and values.
Like it or not history is now governed by the "principle of growing complexity." Its essence is this: population
is escalating; interpersonal relationships are more abrasive; technology is flowering; and interdependence is
more pervasive; so all aspects of life are inescapably more complex. The inevitable result is more
government ? bureaucratic, directive and restrictive. The odds are these tendencies will continue indefinitely.
They could be terminated by war. Without that disastrous outcome they may simply mush into chaos. With
wise leadership they may be tempered and guided by the democratic spirit. This is most likely to come from
an intellectually honest and realistic education guided by humane values.
One reason our leaders fumble and the government stumbles is the absence of a clear sense of why
government exists and what functions it should perform. Resolve these questions in the mind of the public and
that of our officials and our problems become manageable. Government exists to: (1) protect the nation from
external enemies; (2) maintain domestic peace; (3) protect property; (4) enforce democratically made laws;
and (5) promote the security, health, and general well-being of all the public.
Our democratic-republican government is not the private tool of any class or selective clique. No one of them
has an absolute right to office or to control. Corporations do not own America and their agents are not
necessarily the best qualified to make public policy. The President has only a few fleeting months to move
from the side of privilege to that of the public at large. If he does so he may leave an honorable and
constructive legacy. If he fails to do so he may join that unenviable category of Presidents typified by
McKinley and Harding. If so, he loses. But America is an even greater loser.
Lloyd Williams is a retired educator. His column runs in The Transcript every other Saturday.

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