Who's Number One?

The United States got the most medals overall in the Olympics but China got the most Gold. America is upset that Russia is liberating South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which may have shown us how to act in Iraq, but we aren't renaming Vodka Freedom Juice. The linked article is a commentary by Pat Buchanan, a man with whom I rarely agree, and I think he hits the nail on the head. I have heard mention of the article "The End of History" by Fukuyama more than once this week. The joke speech that I commented on also brought it up. I read that article and I'm glad that the present is showing that there will be plenty of past to talk about in the future.

The reasons that people are more satisfied in Russia and China than they are here are as follows: the authoritarian societies in which they live won't allow them to be unhappy publicly, and since they were born into these authoritarian societies they are used to them. Since America is a democracy, the last 8 years of authoritarian control have been out of place, awkward, and unappreciated. They also do authoritarianism much better than we do, they've had practice. I hope they get to Carnegie Hall (another joke that's for me).