America the Not-So-Brave
“Our self-image is one of bold action. In reality, Americans resist change, pressing the government to act boldly only when a national calamity forces it upon us.”
“Americans like to think of themselves as bold. It was boldness that gave birth to the country, built it, protected it from external threat and rescued it in times of domestic turbulence. Americans are proud of dreaming big and taking big chances, and as far as individual feats go, it may be true. But the larger truth is that, foreign military adventurism aside, the American government hasn’t really acted boldly since the days of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal and Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society… An economic stimulus? Make sure it is a small one. Healthcare reform? Half measures. Climate change legislation? No action at all.”
