Malcolm Fraser, previous Prime Minister of Australia - someone generally regarded as politically conservative, and certainly economically conservative - has recently published (August 30th) an essay in Project Syndicate entitled America's Self-Inflicted Decline. It has been reproduced by Aljazeera today (Sept 4th).
In the essay Fraser has taken the long view.
If the broad post-World War II prosperity that has endured for six decades comes to an end, both the United States and Europe will be responsible.
One cause will lie in Western politicans commonly taking the short view.
Tomorrow is always treated as more important than next week, and next week prevails over next year, with no one seeking to secure the long-term future. Now the West is paying the price.
Fraser, the political conservative (at least judged by recent Australian standards), is quite clear about the principal political source of the malaise in its present American manifestation.
[Obama] is fighting powerful hidebound forces in the United States, as well as a demagogic populism, in the form of the Tea Party, that is far worse – and that might defeat him in 2012, seriously damaging America in the process.
Anyway, as this piece by an experienced Western - but not American - politician has not yet been mentioned in DK diaries, I thought I'd draw your attention to it. A foreign view is frequently useful, and it is a thoughtful short essay.
America is worrying people of various political persuasions around the world.