From: Adrian.Waterworth@newcastle.ac.uk (Adrian Waterworth)
Newsgroups: sci.econ,soc.culture.usa,soc.culture.japan,soc.culture.british,soc.culture.canada
Subject: Re: US as No. 1 (3 data books)
Date: 25 Jan 93 14:53:56 GMT
Organization: University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, NE1 7RU

irvine@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu (Brent Irvine) writes:

	[ The ongoing discussion about the US and being "No. 1". ]

>I wouldn't think so at all!  IMNSHO, it would be the sheer power of the
>US in economy and military.  Despite the recent "catch-up" played by 
>other nations, the US is still *the* economic giant, with an 
>INCREDIBLY person-oriented service economy, with services and goods
>available that tend to boggle the mind of nearly any arrival to the US
>[including the 'developed' nations].

	Hmmmm?  Military?  Perhaps, but that might just be a result of
the fact that the US military typically has more money and resources to
draw upon than the military establishments of most other nations.  For
example, a large (and suitably patriotic) population from which to
recruit and "good" budgets from the US Government.  (This aspect of
things is particularly true since the demise of "Red Army Inc."  On the
other hand, I'm not too sure about the Chinese military machine.  How
are they doing lately?  They should certainly have enough human
resources to rely upon, although I assume that they would probably be
more constrained in terms of budget.)

	Mind you, having said all of that, the above factors do not
necessarily make for a better military machine, just a bigger, somewhat
better equipped, one.  Under the circumstances, I will leave questions
of military effectiveness (or otherwise) to more knowledgeable
contributors.

	Economy?  Now on that one, I really do have my doubts.  Having
"an INCREDIBLY person-oriented service economy" does not seem to me to
represent a sound indication of economic strength.  (To any economists
out there, is there a correlation or not?)  As for the availability of
different goods and services, I find it hard to believe that the range
of products available in the US is so much greater than those in any
other developed nation.  From a personal point of view, I cannot think
of anything significant that I might want to obtain that I couldn't
obtain here in the UK.  So, I think that this issue may present a much
stickier wicket.  Particularly when one considers the economic strength
that can be found in the far East - e.g. Japan.

>THAT, when compared with what a resident here sees of other nations,
>makes the US as Number 1 very real.

	Ah...but in the general case, how much of this particular
"Weltanschauung" (as it might be called) can be attributed to sound
evidence, obtained from personal experience of other nations, and how
much can be attributed to simple prejudice on the part of the subject. 
I know that I have my prejudices (and I try to do away with them as
best I can).  I know that other people can have their prejudices too.
(And please note that my use of the word "prejudice" in this sense is
not meant to be perjorative - it is simply a suitable term to describe
the type of unconsciously weighted view to which I refer.)

>While most people know recent immigrants, I doubt it has much impact
>upon the self-image of the US.

	That one I don't know.  Any USA-nians (sorry!) want to comment
on that?
				Ade.

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