Sunday, January 8, 2012

Progress and the vanished frontier


Ultimately, the current debate about more or less government is a distraction from the real question: What combination of government and industry is most likely to restore Americans' sense of a shared future? And that formula must be wrapped in a narrative that explains why progress isn't what it used to be, even though Americans can't imagine a future without it.
Read it at The Huffington Post
America's Problem With "Progress"
Jonathan D. Moreno
Professor, University of Pennsylvania; Senior Fellow, CAP; Author, The Body Politic: The Battle Over Science in America

I've been thinking about this for some time, too. America has a frontier mentality but no longer a frontier. That's turned into a serious problem with admitting reality and has resulted in much denial. The fact is that the US is turning into Europe, which lost its frontier centuries ago and has adjusted. The loss of the frontier is relatively recent for the US, and the countries mindset has not yet reflected the full implications of that.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Then move to Canada, we still have our frontiers. Australia could be a good choice too.

Tom Hickey said...

So does the US — Alaska.

It's the frontier spirit that waning while the frontier myth is rising. Not so many pioneers anymore, especially when the frontier lies in the far north.

Anonymous said...

Australia is warm. Lots of space to roam, to irrigate, and to build.