Sunday, January 23, 2011

It's Official?

In aWashington Post analysis of US-China space program relations:
For now, the U.S.-China relationship in space appears to mirror the one on Earth - a still-dominant but fading superpower facing a new and ambitious rival, with suspicion on both sides.

That same statement accompanied a the headline, "Mistrust stalls U.S.-China space cooperation" under a photo of a rocket on the Post's Sunday morning rotating headlines.

That's a pretty blunt headline for a mainstream medium. The quote caught my eye yesterday when when the headline was just "mistrust" and far less prominent. Today the fading quote is on the front web page--for a while, a least.

It's a message seemingly at variance with the usual American boosterism. Fading is not a part of our national ideology. But in fact, the real spirit of America has traditionally been our practical ability and common sense. Those traits and skills can serve a fading America (which is simply America, still a very rich nation with a skilled labor force), competing with other rich nations in an economic environment where American and economics and interests are not universally held.

Fading does not have to mean the end of American prosperity.

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