I'm sorry Michael, but I love both the Americas you've described, the small scale and the huge corporate empire. They're both great.

It is the great genius of American society and governance that both exist side by side.

I live in both, and have done so all my life. I grew up in small town Illinois, lived in Chicago, San Francisco and New York City and I now split my time between NYC and Woodstock.

There is no crisis here, there is no terrible dilemma to resolve. The U.S. is so great, it's hard for me to understand how you've managed to convince yourself that there's something terrible going on that needs fixing. When I look at the cultures of jazz, blues and rock and roll, I see a culture that is admired and revered throughout the world.

One of the real turning points of my life was working, over a decade ago, for the wealthiest corporate law firm in the world. I traveled for several years to just about every major city in the U.S., and I spent a lot of personal time with corporate executives and the partners of that law firm, some of the wealthiest and most powerful people in this society. Much to my surprise, I discovered that they are almost uniformly well-intentioned, generous and charming people. I also came to trust them.

And, as a result of the student loan programs, these people are not uniformly children of the rich. The CEO of my former employer is a good old boy from small town Oregon, an evangelical Christian (in the best, most charitable sense), and an all around good guy.

The corporate and military empire of America is a good thing. It's part of what makes the U.S. so powerful and wealthy... and it's a wonderful thing that the U.S. is so powerful and wealthy.

The editor of the Woodstock Times wrote, in his editorial last week, something to this effect: "Why can't the U.S. be respected by the rest of the world for something other than its enormous military power?"

This type of thinking is widespread in Woodstock, and I shudder every time I hear it. When I hear it, I think, "Yeah, and the tooth fairy should leave $20 under every kid's pillow, and angels should dance on my front lawn." The world does harbor evil. As the only society in the world left to defend democracy and liberty, the U.S. must have the courage to fight that evil.

I really have difficult understanding what motivates you to write this way, Michael. It is inexplicable. We are the good guys. The people who run our corporations and military are good guys. What in the world is it that makes you think otherwise? This America that we live in is the brilliant invention of the wisest men this world has ever seen. I'm just shaking my head and trying to understand what motivates you to suggest otherwise. You do not even seem to comprehend the moral and intellectual brilliance of Abraham Lincoln. This makes me shudder. What reality are you inhabiting? You know of something better than what humans have done here?

Posted by: Shouting Thomas on June 30, 2007 7:59 AM

Had the most recent immigration bill not been defeated, you would have seen some genuine movement in this direction. But don't worry, every divisive political crisis we have had since the 1960's has frayed the bonds of unity within this country a little more, and sooner or later they will snap. Whether what ensues will be the big 'ol block party that nitwits like Kauffman envision, or something darker, whether the balance will be positive or negative, remains to be seen. But it will happen, if only because the nitwits on the other side (Bush, Kennedy, McCain, et al) won't stop pushing...

Posted by: tschafer on June 30, 2007 8:20 AM

It was M Pompidou who said "I like Germany so much I'm glad there's two of them".

Posted by: dearieme on June 30, 2007 5:25 PM

"radical-reactionary eco-regionalist lyrical-crank/hometown-boy"

I love a precise stereotype!

Posted by: nz conservative on June 30, 2007 8:14 PM

Empire vs. Particularism. This to-and-fro battle of mankind has been going on for five thousand years. We're probably due a return to Particularism for a spell.

Posted by: Bob Grier on July 1, 2007 8:35 PM

As a native Californian, I've often fantasized about seceding. Hell, we're the 8th (or 6th or whatever this week's numbers are) largest economy in the world, we provide all you lovely people in the US with a generous portion of your fruits and vegetables, and we conduct all the social experiments (for better and worse) that, if they work, the rest of the country eventually adopts. It's here that people come to start things like Google, Yahoo, Genentech, etc. We make all the movies you enjoy. And our physical geography, in terms of variety and flat out beauty, is hard to beat.

Yes, the Sovereign Nation of California!

I'm only half-kidding. I love the US, but get very tired of going to other states and hearing people rag on my state. Without a doubt, California is the burning engine of ideas for this country.

Posted by: the patriarch on July 2, 2007 10:15 AM

Secession on the Iron Range of Minnesota?:

"Independent spirit thrives in Kinney".

Posted by: Dave Lull on July 8, 2007 12:54 PM






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