Thomas Friedman om det amerikanska dilemmat
That Used to be Us är en debattbok om USA:s ställning som ekonomisk stormakt med den kände New York Times-journalisten Thomas Friedman som författare (tillsammans med den inte lika kände “international relations”-professorn Michael Mandelbaum). Det är en bok om den amerikanska samhällsmodellens kris, och om möjligheterna att göra något åt den. Boken är på nästan 400 sidor, vilket är åtminstone 200 sidor för mycket. Det verkar som om journalisten Friedman har haft julafton i meningen att han har fått stort utrymme för att klippa in artiklar och kolumner han redan har publicerat. Och som om inte det skulle vara nog har han generöst klippt också från andra författare. Resultatet har blivit en ordöverlastad bok.
Ordöverflödet riskerar att fördunkla det intressanta, bokens grundläggande budskap, att den amerikanska samhällsmodellen under senare decennier har utvecklats i alldeles fel riktning. Eller uttryckt på annat sätt: USA som land håller på att urholka sina förutsättningar att klara sig i den globala konkurrensen. Det investeras för lite i genensamma resurser, i till exempel utbildning och infrastruktur, och de amerikanska politikerna är inte beredda att fatta de åtstramande och skattehöjande beslut som krävs för att få kontroll över statsskulden. Allt kokar ner till det politiska systemets handlingsförlamning. Olika historiska och valtekniska omständigheter (”gerrymandering”), medias sätt att fungera och inte minst viktigt, mycket starka lobbyingkrafter, har gjort att polariseringen i kongressen i Washington DC är mer påtaglig än någonsin. Och att inte kunna komma till beslut i centrala politiska frågor är katastrofalt för landet, i synnerhet i en situation när andra länder, inte minst Kina och Asien i allmänhet, arbetar för full maskin för att bli mer konkurrenskraftiga.
Författarna ser bara en möjlighet att komma ur den besvärliga situation landet befinner sig i, en chock som skakar om de två etablerade partierna, ”ett tredje parti” med en karismatisk och seriös ledare, ungefär som Theodore Roosevelt, George Wallace och Ross Perot tidigare i amerikansk historia.
Jag har inget att invända mot vare sig författarnas diagnos eller recept. Det är bara det att boken är mindre välstrukturerad, mer ordrik, och tråkigare att ta sig igenom än annat jag läst på samma tema, till exempel Jeffrey Sachs bok The Price of Civlization.
PS Författarna intervjudades av Charlie Rose när boken kom ut hösten 2011, det samtalet är värt att ta del av (titta här, 37 minuter)
Litteratur:
Friedman, T., L., & Mandelbaum, M., 2011, That Used to be Us, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York;
Sachs, J., D., 2011, The Prize of Civilization, Random House, New York;
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