Daily Blague

The current issue of The Atlantic contains the magazine's fourth annual State of the Union section. Arguably the most centrist periodical in the country, inclined these days to snort at the left while blandifying the right, The Atlantic publishes the occasional alarmist article (usually by William Langewiesche), but its editors seem determined not to get flustered about American life, and that in itself is a good thing, or at least a respite. In the kickoff essay, "The Values Racket," they make two very interesting points. First: the culture war  

is between those who want a culture war - a vocal minority demanding political attention - and those who don't.

This is an idea that E J Dionne works out in his contribution, "Why the Culture War Is the Wrong War." The other point is well worth ponderation.

As Paul Starobin argues, the United States has become isolated by its values. Many of the cultural attributes that have made America attractive to outsiders - boisterous democracy, economic opportunity, respect for human rights - have proliferated abroad. Some have been tarnished at home. At the same time, many of the values that remain uniquely American do not endear us to most other societies. No other country is both as devout and as libertarian as America, and this unusual mixture has of late exacerbated mistrust of the United States.

Implicit here is the fact that there has been no real need for the United States to "export" its democracy; the citizens of other countries, admiring it from afar, have cleared the way for its welcome import. We're at our best when we're simply being our best and not worrying about the rest of the world. I would go so far as to say that the world would be a better place without official United States charity (always excepting Lend-Lease and the Marshall Plan, the latter of which reflected a cosmopolitan pragmatism rarely approximated in our aid schemes).