The Alzheimers States of America

[unhappycamper]

http://watchingamerica.com/News/189623/the-alzheimers-states-of-america/

The Alzheimers States of America
die Tageszeitung, Germany
By Konrad Ege
27 December 2012
Edited by Kath­leen Weinberger

It's not easy to understand the U.S. at the outset of pragmatist Barack Obama's second term in the White House. The U.S. seems to be having a tough time getting its stuff together. Republicans block passage of a budget while economic inequality grows larger. Despite Obama's impassioned speeches about gun violence, the problem is seen largely as impossible to solve. The appearance of the U.S. delegation at the global climate summit in Doha was a tragedy. Furthermore, New York and New Jersey, despite persistent traffic jams in the direction of Manhattan, can't seem to agree about building a new tunnel under the Hudson River.

At the beginning of the 1980s, when President Ronald Reagan promised that it was “morning again in America,” people glanced across the ocean toward Europe and made the diagnosis: Eurosclerosis. The Europeans were seen as incapable of making decisions and reforms. However, such medical parallels never quite fit. Nevertheless, if one wanted to play doctor today and give the United States a physical exam, one might arrive at a diagnosis of Alzheimers which, according to the medical journals, is characterized by “a progressive deterioration of cognitive performance, which usually goes with a decrease of daily activities.”

People of a certain age ask whether one knows one has Alzheimers right from the outset. There's a suspicion that in America people don't really grasp – or perhaps don't want to admit – that the lights of “the shining city on a hill,” as Reagan called America, have gone somewhat dim lately.

They cling desperately to statements assuring them that the U.S. is the greatest nation on earth and still believe their nation is a “rags to riches” country. Obama often says that what makes Americans special is the belief that those who work hard and are responsible will be rewarded with success, while those who aren’t only have themselves to blame.

[truebluegreen]

1. Very appropriate characterization. nt

[raccoon]

2. Great article, thanks for the link. I like to see how other countries view the US. nt