American Views Abroad

Gabor Steingart's column West Wing in Der Spiegel Online discusses his view on the current mood in the US -- The Depressed Superpower.

'Optimism, once considered practically a part of the American genetic makeup, has suffered considerably in recent years.'

'The only thing that has doubled in the seven years of the Bush administration is the country's military budget. By comparison, the average US family income has stagnated in the last decade or so.'

'Americans are capable of handling anything -- just not the notion that something cannot be improved. .....But perhaps America's collective depression has nothing to do with Hillary Clinton or George W. Bush. Perhaps neither the Iraq war nor globalization is solely to blame for America's blues. What if the real problem lies with the American people and not with the circumstances? The challenges facing America today are not more daunting than those of the past. ......But the difference is that the people facing today's challenges do so with weakened reserves of strength.'

www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,519890,00.html