US spirit of pluralism will come up trumps
There is more to the United States than Donald Trump, writes Peter Lyons.
AMERICANS are louder, more boisterous, opinionated, fractious and nakedly patriotic than any other nation I have visited. Any structure seems to warrant having a Stars and Stripes banner attached. Yet I am learning to love this country.
I am on a slowmoving hippie bus tour through California, Arizona and Utah. Most nights are spent sleeping under the stars. The natural vistas are riveting, ranging from picturesque Californian coastline to sweltering desert with deep canyons and towering sandstone monoliths.
This is a country of huge diversity in landscape, people and opinions. The opinions are strongly held and vigorously expressed. In my brief travels I have encountered staunch Trumpists, strident opponents, hippies, rednecks, corporate types, homeless folk, wacky weirdos and zealous patriots. If I was to use a single term to describe my impressions of America so far it would be ‘‘pluralism’’. Pluralism is likely what made this nation great. It will likely continue to keep it great. Warts and all. President Trump somehow plopped out of this amorphous menage of conflicting viewpoints. But he is unlikely to be the bell ringer of imminent national decline.
We have been inundated with Trump news since his bizarre ascension to power. But the founders of this country were very wise men. They anticipated such a possibility. Men such as Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson agonised over checks and balances in establishing a system of federal government unlikely to descend into tyranny. Trump is certainly one of the more outlandish characters that has presided over this nation. But only a fool would suggest his presidency spells the end of American hegemony.
Much has been written about the Chinese economic miracle. Yet the technological innovations that ultimately drive global prosperity still largely come out of the United States. Think Google, Facebook, Amazon and Uber. Trump may be in the Oval Office but it’s still business as usual for the innovators and entrepreneurs of America, albeit in a bizarre political landscape. The strongly held and expressed diversity of views bemuses those of us from more temperate countries. But this plurality of viewpoints lends itself to the creativity and innovation that makes this country great, if a little bit weird.
The Chinese economic miracle has been based on the massive utilisation of resources to increase national output and income. This stellar growth is the hallmark of a developing economy. But Chinese growth rates are slowing as the availability of cheap labour declines. This is already starting to happen.
A developed country such as the United States has a much slower growth rate. This is because growth is largely driven by innovation and technological advances. The main ingredient for such growth is plurality in thinking and the ability to express divergent views without official censor or penalty. The United States has a huge advantage over China in this capacity.
I am not a diehard fan of the United States, particularly its foreign policy. But I am a keen student of economic history and the question of what makes a nation rich.
American pluralism creates the vibrancy of thinking and action that will keep this nation great for a long time yet, regardless of who is in the White House.