You are both the most imitated and hated culture in the world. You have both the most trusted and the most feared military power. You are the world's largest maker of things, seller of goods and buyer of the world's products. What you do matters and you can't afford to make decisions that will affect the future merely based on what you want to believe is true.
Whether your worldview tends toward conservative or liberal, right or left, Republican or Democrat, you should make sure that your opinions rest on top of facts. The risks of widespread misconception can not be taken too seriously. We must all look beyond headlines to make good choices based on an understanding of our nation's many strengths and actual needs.
People love to see whatever or whoever is on top brought down. This yearning is part of the human condition and it is why recent stories about Britney, Paris, and failed high profile executives captured lots of eyeballs. The desire to see the mighty fall explains some of the recent Bush bashing and Clinton bashing before it, as well as the hatred toward America over the past half century. But during the past five years this inclination, spurred by the combination of media bias, partisan anger over contentious presidential elections, and a highly controversial war in Iraq, evolved into a palpable hatred and led to much of the irresponsible media narrative.
Unfortunately Bush bashing coalesced with America bashing, even among some Americans, and as a result falsehoods that were emotionally gratifying became accepted conventional wisdom. Be careful. The jokes were funny and the bashing may have filled a need, but the resulting misconceptions could be dangerous if they serve as the basis for misguided decisions.
America is far from perfect, and the constant striving to make it better should never stop, but finding a few imperfections doesn't mean the whole thing is a disaster. The truth is, our system is still a shining example to the world of what can be accomplished when the principles of free trade, democracy, and the rule of law are respected and applied. To make this point anything less than crystal clear does a disservice to those in emerging economies that so desperately need clear direction on how to fix their problems. And it's a disservice to the people of this country as well. If we lose sight of what we have and how we came by it, and if we stop fighting for it, we risk losing it.
The introduction of this book highlighted the difference between the liberal attitude of the press and the significantly less liberal view of the average American. There is no secret liberal cabal out to lie to America. But there is a view of the world, held in common among many of those who have chosen journalism as a profession that defines their narrative. Their choices of which stories will be highlighted and issues will be debated make sense to them based on what they consider important or what they believe will sell to the audience they have chosen.
color=#800000 In the 1950s, the common world view was the fear of communism and nuclear warfare. In a banal way that resulted in schoolchildren being trained to hide under their desks to prepare for a nuclear attack. A more meaningful and sad outcome was McCarthyism, blacklists and arrests of anybody with a communist history. It all was driven by a narrative of a worldwide communist agenda that wanted to destroy America. McCarthy was popular; he was doing the people's work. Communism was a real threat but the response became irrational and destructive of American liberty.
color=#800000 Today we have different media narratives. Instead of the communist paranoia we are subjected to paranoia related to global warming, peak oil and the presumed utopia of universal health care. Oil, health care and pollution are important issues but what we hear about them is repetitive and narrow and is therefore not helpful in developing real alternatives and solutions. Since the media is not doing the job of providing an objective overview each individual must work harder to find useful information.
This book is designed to be helpful on some issues where obvious misconceptions exist, but we must all do our homework on the many key issues of our day. Due to the historical strength of our free market system of capitalism, Americans earn more than 20 times the average Asian worker and as a result American consumers are privileged to buy enormous quantities of wonderful things made in less developed countries that America couldn't begin to afford if they were built at American wage rates. So the U.S. gets all these goods and also employs its citizen to do more interesting, higher-value activities for work, and it all happens, with a trade deficit that, were it not for oil imports, is not unreasonable and would be declining rapidly.
More Americans own homes than ever and while home values are down 12% from the peak, they are still up 70% from 2001. The narrative in the media is only about the current fall in prices not the long term rise and gains to the homeowners.
The American citizen has the benefit of the best health care services in the world. The majority, 85% of the population have affordable health insurance. Those without insurance are guaranteed access to emergency rooms. No one is left out. This is not part of the media narrative. The American capitalistic system provides robust opportunities to move up (or down) an income ladder that offers unprecedented rewards to those who move up. It is not an easy system but it creates America's resilience and adaptability.
Seeing the Pattern: America Is Not "Broken"
We can not cover every important issue in this book, but we've tried to demonstrate a pattern. There is a huge perception/reality gap across many important issues. People have been told and seem to believe things are much worse than they really are. In other cases they have been told things are bad that are really good. This could lead to fixing problems that don't exist, which usually leads to real problems.
The American economy has not been a disaster. We reviewed the countries strengths in the first few chapters. In fact, America's real growth rate over the past six years ranks highly among developed nations, even though it is building on a stronger base. China is not about to usurp America for the global economic lead. In fact, the growth of the U.S. economy since President Bush took office--just the increase--is about equal to the entire economy of China. Tax cuts and military spending have not led to unprecedented budget deficits. In fact, the deficit is lower as a percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) than it was during the 70s, 80s, and 90s.
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are not bankrupting the U.S. In fact, defense spending has been lower, as a percent of GDP, during these wars than it was a dozen years earlier.
Social Security and Medicare are not just fine. In fact, the status quo is not sustainable. The narrative in the press seems to swing from positive to negative in line with political talking points. Like all problems America has the strengths and tools to solve these problems, but first the country must face them factually and realistically. Hopefully you will find more resources to examine these problems.
"Tax cuts for the rich" have not led to a huge increase in income disparity. In fact, the top income earners are paying a higher percentage of taxes today than ever before. And income distribution has not changed significantly since 2000.
The U.S. is not declining in global economic importance. After declining from as high as about 75% of World GDP in the mid-1940s to 25.1% in 1995, it increased to 27.5% in 2006.
The war in Afghanistan is not a failure. In fact, it has been an inspiring success story. More than 31 million Afghans have been freed from an oppressive theocracy, and al-Qaeda has been evicted, with a remarkably small loss of life.
The U.S. did not invade Iraq because Bush claimed with false certainty that Iraq had WMD, a fact that is lost in the current media narrative. The first reason given for invasion was lack of knowledge about Iraq's WMD. The U.S. invaded Iraq because Saddam Hussein did not comply with the treaty signed at the end of the First Gulf War and a dozen unanimously passed U.N. resolutions. The war in Iraq is not a failure. In fact, because of the hard work and sacrifices of our forces, Iraq is a tremendous success story. More than 28 million Iraqis were freed from a regime that enslaved, humiliated millions and killed hundreds of thousands of its own citizens. If we were to leave Iraq in an unstable condition, the long term impact on global stability could be dire. America has created two nascent multi-ethnic democracies in the Middle East. If they remain stable, successful and growing, think of the positive example for change that will provide the people of Syria and Iran.
Hurricane Katrina did not expose the incompetence and apathy of FEMA. In fact, the deployment of emergency provisions and personnel--before, during, and after the disaster--was the most extensive in the history of the United States. The misinformation in the media actually held back relief agencies and delayed the Red Cross and other volunteer organizations from sending in workers.
The Bush administration hasn't had a "failed, go-it-alone" foreign policy. In fact, the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq consisted of almost double the number of countries in the First Gulf War, and the coalition in Afghanistan includes an astonishing 82 countries. Of the five nations that posed a nuclear threat during George Bush's presidency, three have been eliminated (Iraq, Libya, and Syria), and another (North Korea) appears to be on the verge of being eliminated.99 These are not the front page story of the media but the reality of these achievements should be a part of America's assessment of how to move forward and where to make changes.
Be Careful What you Wish For
Falling for convenient platitudes and making unwise or irresponsible changes could cost this nation more than America should be willing to pay. If the changes were large enough, the country could even lose the dynamic society which has created a land of opportunity and prosperity that has shown the way to so many people around the world for so many years.
The recent world food shortage is a perfect example of what can happen when decisions are made on the basis of emotions and wishful thinking defined by a commonly accepted view of the world instead of considering all the facts. The shortage was caused in part by the diversion of a significant amount of domestic corn and other vegetable products to the production of ethanol. Shortages of corn, rice, soybeans, and other essentials can mean starvation for some, and the poorest almost always pay the highest price.
As mentioned at the beginning of this book, complex decisions are difficult even when starting with correct information; but when the assumptions are wrong or incomplete to begin with, bad decisions are likely to follow. We all lose when we make changes without considering the facts.
Do your homework
In June 2008 the media narrative focused on a story about an exciting horse named "Big Brown" running the Belmont Stakes. All the money and discussion was about this unbeatable horse. "Big Brown" came in last. The winner was a barely mentioned horse that, like "Big Brown," had never lost a race. It was bred from a line of 5 winners of the Belmont Stakes. Its trainer has a long record of winning at that track. But the narrative in the media was only about "Big Brown". A little homework examining the alternatives would have paid 38 to 1. Americans all need to do the homework and examine the alternatives that are outside the media narrative.
As we listen to all the political candidates promising "change" during this election season, we ought to be very careful. We need to ask, "What kind of changes do you have in mind?" It's easy to pick an idea that offers easy answers to complex problems; but many of our most serious problems exist because there are no easy answers.
Every change has a cost of some kind. Just as ethanol has proved to have a much higher cost to the world than the $10 billion subsidy the U.S. government is paying, we may find that many of the other changes now being proposed have hidden costs that we're not willing to pay. And if this great country loses sight of what it has, it risks making changes for which the costs can never equal the consequences.
America Stands for Things
We believe we've shown a predictable pattern of beliefs about America--usually negative ones--that are widely held but not correct. Similar correctives could be written about negative narratives on "stolen elections," "wiretapping," "torture," stem cell research, Alberto Gonzales, No Child Left Behind, and many other controversial subjects. The net of it all is that much of the negativity about America is either overblown for effect or just wrong. America is still great and getting better. While no figures on the subject seem to be available, we suspect that despite its faults, America's press and news coverage is probably also the best in the world. As with all things though, there are good elements and bad ones, and there have been good times and times of turmoil. When the pace of transformation in the media settles down a bit, those outlets most committed to journalistic integrity will be well rewarded with success. America stands for things. It stands for doing what it has committed it will do--think Iraq, Afghanistan, Katrina, Social Security, nuclear challenges, and even Kyoto, where the commitments made by all have proven impossible to meet. America also stands for truth. We should all do our part to make sure that the commitment to this sure and steady principle that underpinned America's rise to greatness remains strong.
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