Guilty!

I finished a book today, The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism by Andrew J. Bacevich.

It pinpoints the problem of American foreign policy in a surprising place: me and you. His thesis is found in the opening paragraphs of the first chapter (let's hear it for straightforward writing!)

If Americans still cherish the sentiments contained in Jefferson's Declaration of Independence, they have, over time, radically revised their understanding of those "inalienable rights." Today individual  Americans use their freedom to do many worthy things. Some read, write, paint, sculpt, compose and play music. Others build, restore, and preserve. Still others attend plays, concerts, and sporting events, visit their local multiplexes, IM each other incessantly, and join "communities" of the like-minded in an ever-growing array of virtual worlds. They also pursue innumerable hobbies, worship, tithe, and in commendably large numbers, attend to the needs of the less fortunate. Yet none of these things in themselves define what it means to be an American in the twenty-first century.

If one were to choose a single word to characterize that identity, it would have to be more [emphasis is the author's]. For the majority of contemporary Americans the essence of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness centers on a relentless personal quest to acquire, to consume, to indulge, and to shed whatever constraints might interfere with those endeavors.

 I can easily locate myself in those two paragraphs; I'm guilty and for some reason it hit me in a fresh way as I read this book. I hardly want to get into a "I hate the culture" kind of rant, but this book has opened my eyes in an interesting way to the sheer force of more that swims all around me. Though not the point of the book, I found myself deeply convicted  concerning my own pursuits and discontents. This is the personal theme I keep coming back to: I have an insatiable appetite!

He goes on to make the case that American profligacy (his term) is such a tidal wave that no governmental leader can do anything but swim along - and it has real consequences for our foreign policy as we continue to think of the whole world as our oyster.

Because Republicans have been president for 20 of the last 29 years there is much criticism to be leveled at conservatives, but to simply pin our troubles on one party or another misses the point:

To state the matter directly: Observers preoccupied with delineating differences between this Republican and that Democratic one may uncover any number of small truths while missing the big ones. Identifying the big truths requires an appreciation for continuity rather than change. It's not the superficial distinctions that matter but the subterranean similarities.

I'm not exactly a political scientist, and don't really want to be one, but this theme of constancy between presidential administrations rings true to me. Regardless of their political persuasion, they are going to protect our 'interests'.  What else are they to do? After all, they lead and swim among a bunch of profligates: me and you.