National Identity and Whims
Roger Cohen has declared that Asia is the new world power. 81% of Americans feel that this country is headed in the wrong direction. The challenge that this set of presidential candidates faces is not defining national identity in patriotic terms that our country can unite under, but rather forming an identity that the international community can get behind.
Right or wrong, America has been the dominant power in international arenas. Our economic, military and political strength has consistently placed us as the leader, that many countries have gotten behind and looked to for help in any number of situations. This perception has changed gradually in the last couple of years however. With an unpopular war and a demeaned president, the international community sees Americans laughing at their own state of affairs and is quick to join in the ridicule. But at what point did anything substantive change in the way American operated? Is a war in and of itself enough to deplete a country like America to the point where it is only a punch line? Or is it that public perceptions have built upon each other until it appears to be this way?
It is clear to me now that we need a change. This is not because I disagree with every policy that has been enacted in the last four years or that I disagree with the war or president entirely. I believe we need change simply because people perceive we need change. While I still do not agree with some of the policies that "change" would bring about, I have to respect the national and international thirst for it. Like someone had mentioned in class, what kind of difference in direction would having another old white man signal? Barack's appeal to me then, is not his policies or political competency, but simply the fact that he is new, young, fresh body and a blatant change in direction and identity for the US.
Although I changed my major after taking Econ 10 and I do not pretend to be an economist of any sort, it seems to me that a significant portion of our economic problems are identity related as well. It would not surprise me to see a jump in the economy after November if Barack is elected, simply because people think things will be better and thus have more confidence in their economy. I do not believe that the U.S. is on a downward unstoppable spiral to being uprooted as a world power. I do believe that we flush ourselves down the toilet. Our negative national identity is a self-fulfilling prophecy. If Americans could start looking at their country with faith and confidence again, the international community would easily follow suit and America would be right back or better than where it started. This has nothing to do with policies, it has everything to do with perception.
Right or wrong, America has been the dominant power in international arenas. Our economic, military and political strength has consistently placed us as the leader, that many countries have gotten behind and looked to for help in any number of situations. This perception has changed gradually in the last couple of years however. With an unpopular war and a demeaned president, the international community sees Americans laughing at their own state of affairs and is quick to join in the ridicule. But at what point did anything substantive change in the way American operated? Is a war in and of itself enough to deplete a country like America to the point where it is only a punch line? Or is it that public perceptions have built upon each other until it appears to be this way?
It is clear to me now that we need a change. This is not because I disagree with every policy that has been enacted in the last four years or that I disagree with the war or president entirely. I believe we need change simply because people perceive we need change. While I still do not agree with some of the policies that "change" would bring about, I have to respect the national and international thirst for it. Like someone had mentioned in class, what kind of difference in direction would having another old white man signal? Barack's appeal to me then, is not his policies or political competency, but simply the fact that he is new, young, fresh body and a blatant change in direction and identity for the US.
Although I changed my major after taking Econ 10 and I do not pretend to be an economist of any sort, it seems to me that a significant portion of our economic problems are identity related as well. It would not surprise me to see a jump in the economy after November if Barack is elected, simply because people think things will be better and thus have more confidence in their economy. I do not believe that the U.S. is on a downward unstoppable spiral to being uprooted as a world power. I do believe that we flush ourselves down the toilet. Our negative national identity is a self-fulfilling prophecy. If Americans could start looking at their country with faith and confidence again, the international community would easily follow suit and America would be right back or better than where it started. This has nothing to do with policies, it has everything to do with perception.
posted by Cara Lee at
8:41 AM
2 Comments:
I agree that it is perception. However, the international world has been laughing at the US for a while now and I think recently Americans are realizing this. Despite that we are being looked down upon internationally, our influences in international markets and military strength is still dominate. I do agree that with a new type of president such as Obama, national identity will have a huge boost because of the perception of change. Hopefully, perception will materialize into reality.
But what would a positive international identity look like? Can it sustain itself on just change through youth? What do we need to project?
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