The Post-American World

Thanks for joining us this morning, I enjoyed the class a great deal. We started with Royce Ann presenting information from a children's book...If the World Were a Village: A Book about the World's People (by David J. Smith, 2008 updated version)...and I think a few of you wondered what it had to do with Zakaria's book. Hopefully, after we finished you saw the connection. We in the U.S. have seen ourselves as the center of the world for many decades, but we are a fairly small percentage of the world's population. As we have been successful in creating open markets and world trade, the "rise of the rest", as Zakaria puts it, has meant that more political and economic power is being concentrated in countries other than the U.S. We are now living in a world where there are more stock markets than just Wall Street and where banks all over the world can be affected by things that happen in the U.S. The "American World" has been one in which we were the most important relationship for every country...where our writing of history was the only one we really cared much about. A world in which there was one superpower, who felt free to act as it wished, without much of a care as to how the remainder of the world viewed our actions. Zakaria writes that Iraq may have changed that...the fact that we could conduct that war without regard to the desires of most of the world's nations merely served to point out how dangerous a one superpower world was for the average country. Now, with other economies growing at solid rates their views on world questions will have to be taken into account. Though China and India will have lower per capita Gross Domestic Product than the U.S. for many decades, considering there is about 2.5 billion people between them they will wield signicant influence as they continue to modernize and grow. Zakara closes the chapter we looked at today by giving the United States credit for the actions that led to the open markets throughout the world...by removing the competition between economic systems with demise of the Soviet Union...but notes that we are the ones that are struggling the most to globalize.
Let's face it, most of us can't speak any language but English and many don't think there is any reason for us to learn. We expect foreign countries to accept our international companies with open arms, yet chafe at the idea of foreign countries plying their business in the U.S. Think about this example...which I forgot to use in class...certain legislators from Kansas had an absolute fit when a French aviation company, in partnership with a U.S. company, won the bid for a large fleet of Air Force tankers. They raised so many problems that the bid was disqualified and the competition restarted. They complained the U.S. military aircraft should not be built in other countries and that those jobs should remain here. Though the French/American aircraft would have assembled in Georgia they used the patriotism card to kill the legally won contract. I wonder how we would react if Boeing was not allowed to sell to any other countries' military? Would we scream if NATO countries determined that U.S. manufacturers could not compete in their equipment competitions. Zakaria is laying a foundation to show us how we must change to live in this Post-American World...we are very comfortable in our American World...but the world is quickly catching up to us. Come next Sunday and we'll get deeper into these questions and others.

Lincoln: Man or Myth

Thursday night's class focused on the belief structure that created Lincoln politically. We discussed the importance of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution to his interpretation of man's moral obligations and what the United States should be. We worked through the thorny dichotomy of his racist public pronouncements and his vehement opposition to slavery. While many thought his soft on slavery because of his views on the inferiority of Blacks, he campaigned under the slogan that "If slavery is not wrong, then nothing is wrong"...seems like he was pretty explicit during a time when slavery was the most contentious issue of the time. Think the abortion debate and multiply the intensity by 100X. I probably talked too much tonight, but will try to provide more opportunities for the class members at the end of class next week.

The Post-American World Part One

I apologize for the technical problems today and hope that everyone came away from the class having gained an initial idea of what Zakaria's book is about. While there are those that disagree with him, he adamantly believes that the U.S. is positioned to prosper by playing a different role in the global economy and political structure. We'll look more closely at his thoughts in the next three weeks and on the final class discuss how we feel about his conclusions. I recommend the book, at least for a thoughtful presentation of an important subject. Remember, often reading books that disagree with your point of view just provides you a better perspective on your own ideas...so whether you agree or disagree with his ideas, you would probably benefit from a reading of it. Here's his photo, you may well have seen him on TV.

Lincoln: Man or Myth

I appreciate the group that came out tonight for our first class. Hopefully, you all got something out of it. Since I wasn't able to pinpoint the date of the Lincoln Memorial, I checked once I got home. I was pretty close...the statute was completed in 1920 and the Memorial unveiled in 1922. I didn't think the scars had healed enough in the 19th century to be able to put one together any quicker. I attached the original photo that Bob showed us is now on the new five dollar bill. It was also taken by Matthew Brady on the same February day as the original photo on the old five dollar bill. I hope you came to see tonight that Lincoln was a complicated man...with his own faults and challenges...but one who has been interpreted by others based on what they needed him to be.

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June 14th - Turkish Raindrop House

Mr. Fatih Ozcan spoke to us again today and told us more about his country and how Islam is incorporated into Turkish society. He discussed customs, politics, gender issues, and education. He fielded a number of questions from the audience, specifically discussing the issue of headscarves for women...surprising to many of us, women who wear headscarves are almost discriminated against for education, work, and political office. I think many of us thought the discrimination might have gone the other way. My favorite point from the class today was his discussion of what he called "religious gardens" which exist in Turkey. He showed photos of some of these gardens, which have a common entrance into a garden that then allows individuals to decide which house of worship they wish to attend...because the gardens may have a Jewish Temple, an Islamic Mosque, and a Christian Church adjacent to them. At lunch today we commented on how, in this country, we're not sure we could get three Protestant denominations to show that much tolerance.

June 7th - Raindrop Turkish House

Fatih Ozcan, a volunteer from the Raindrop Turkish House, spoke to about 20 members of St. Paul's this morning at 9:30. He shared with us about the ministry of the Institute for Interfaith Dialog (IID) and the teachings of Falhullah Gulen, a Turkish scholar and philosopher, who works for peace and justice throughout the world. Fatih gave an interesting talk, making a particular point that I found very accurate...he indicated the term "interfaith dialog" may not be totally appropriate, as religions don't talk - people do. He offered up a better term when he proposed the use of "interfaithful dialog" instead. Fatih will be back again next week, so join us at 9:30. If there is anything specific you would like him to cover, let me know via the comment below and I'll relay it to him.

Calendar for June 2009

Sunday Morning Classes: (9:30 am)

June 7th and 14th - Raindrop Turkish House - Raindrop Turkish House is a non-profit, educational, charitoable, social and cultural organization founded by Turkish-Americans in Houston in 2000 and now it operates in six states: Texas, Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Next to being a home to Turkish-Americans, Raindrop Turkish House addresses their social and cultural needs and helps them integrate into this multicultural society better. The mission of Raindrop is to introduce Turkish culture into American society and cultivate friendship and promote teh understanding of diverse cultures through its unique services to the community, through dialog and corporation. For two weeks, Mr. Fatih Ozcan will be helping us improve our understanding of Raindrop's mission and Turkish culture. Bridge - Front Classroom.


June 21st - July 12th - The Post-American World - Jim Martin will facilitate this four week examination of the best selling book by Fareed Zakaria. This future looking volume follows Thomas Friedman's tremendously successful book, The World is Flat, and examines the changes in our world as the rest of it catches up with America in economics, technology, and education. As one reviewer stated, "This book isn't about America's decline, it's about how it can deploy its unique strengths to prosper as the rest of the world does so as well." Of particular interest are mini-studies of India and China, which set the stage for larger regional studies classes in the months to come. Bridge - Front Classroom.


Evening Classes:

Mondays, June 15th - July 27th - 7:00 - 8:30 pm - Living the Questions - Due to the busy summer months, this class has been cancelled. We will look to try it again in the Fall.

Thursdays, June 18th - July 9th - 7:00 - 8:30 pm - Abraham Lincoln: Who was he and why is he in the news so much now? - With the election of President Obama, the historical figure of Abraham Lincoln has returned to occupy a more prominent place in our political discussion. Was he the Great Emancipator? Was he a great president? Is the public image projected of him accurate or an embellishment? Jim Martin will facilitate this course and attempt to help all comers get at answers to these questions.