tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464222071440015933.post738723138114157566..comments2024-01-23T17:14:04.067-05:00Comments on Jaltcoh: Does Obama's "'Sputnik' moment" idea from the State of the Union speech make any sense?John Althouse Cohenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11703450281424023177noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464222071440015933.post-81547600014816638802011-01-27T11:09:15.689-05:002011-01-27T11:09:15.689-05:00Yes, Wilson, that's a fallacy that's all t...Yes, Wilson, that's a fallacy that's all too common among liberals. The chapter called "Third World Facts and Fallacies" in Thomas Sowell's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Economic-Facts-Fallacies-Thomas-Sowell/dp/0465003494" rel="nofollow"><i>Economic Facts and Fallacies</i></a> is very relevant here.John Althouse Cohenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11703450281424023177noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464222071440015933.post-10516927864752596632011-01-26T21:02:31.171-05:002011-01-26T21:02:31.171-05:00What Obama said comes directly from the philosophy...What Obama said comes directly from the philosophy of his party: the idea that the pie is only so big, and if others are getting bigger pieces, it means mine has to get smaller.Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17964118013920156962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464222071440015933.post-59876390598003383242011-01-26T20:25:03.083-05:002011-01-26T20:25:03.083-05:00If enough people think like this we will certainly...<i>If enough people think like this we will certainly get the demise you seem to crave.</i><br /><br />I wouldn't call being the #2 country in the world a "demise." Top 1 percent!John Althouse Cohenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11703450281424023177noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464222071440015933.post-59088155693096322912011-01-26T19:53:18.657-05:002011-01-26T19:53:18.657-05:00Don't worry, John, it happens to the best of u...Don't worry, John, it happens to the best of us <a href="http://www.isthmus.com/isthmus/article.php?article=31935&sid=b0c5b8f46850ac68c8534ea77228854e" rel="nofollow">(Isthmus readers)</a>.Meadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00117933390338651739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464222071440015933.post-23746234104326396832011-01-26T17:50:35.016-05:002011-01-26T17:50:35.016-05:00"I don't care if we're #1 or #2 or #1..."I don't care if we're #1 or #2 or #10 out of 200 countries, by whatever metric has been agreed on by experts. In fact, being #1 is a burden."<br /><br />If enough people think like this we will certainly get the demise you seem to crave.<br /><br />Sad really.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464222071440015933.post-72955061032400840122011-01-26T15:33:35.541-05:002011-01-26T15:33:35.541-05:00There are so many problems with the Sputnik idea.....There are so many problems with the Sputnik idea...for example, did the competition with Russia imply specific policy agreements with Eisenhower? If conservatives agreed with the idea that Sputnik means we should be more aggressive with competing with other countries, and therefore we should adopt Policy X on education or science funding or R&D, would Obama agree if it contradicted his proposals? I doubt it.<br /><br />Wasn't Sputnik really a mask for Russian technological weakness? Didn't flaunting Sputnik then backfire for them in competing with the US?Ronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08791314877257904422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464222071440015933.post-8071923561498258932011-01-26T13:13:40.977-05:002011-01-26T13:13:40.977-05:00Obama seems to be channeling envy, which both left...<i>Obama seems to be channeling envy, which both lefties and righties have aplenty. It's a stupid vice and has no proper place in politics.</i><br /><br />I agree.John Althouse Cohenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11703450281424023177noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464222071440015933.post-38046688601457259792011-01-26T13:07:27.010-05:002011-01-26T13:07:27.010-05:00Like others here, I came via Althouse. I don'...Like others here, I came via Althouse. I don't see your post as left- or right-wing. You point out a cultural issue in America: we have a problem with others doing well. It's stupid. If China does well, does that hurt us? No. It probably helps, mostly.<br /><br />Obama seems to be channeling envy, which both lefties and righties have aplenty. It's a stupid vice and has no proper place in politics.Bob Ellisonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10446972838620138676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464222071440015933.post-36831972839009400612011-01-26T12:55:00.757-05:002011-01-26T12:55:00.757-05:00I know, I just find it interesting that he conside...I know, I just find it interesting that he considered my post conservative, when I anticipated the reaction being that it's too liberal/left-wing.John Althouse Cohenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11703450281424023177noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464222071440015933.post-61743249680766739722011-01-26T12:46:31.304-05:002011-01-26T12:46:31.304-05:00"I was expecting it to be criticized as left-..."I was expecting it to be criticized as left-wing."<br /><br />He did say "reasonably conservative."TWMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06114010593299066911noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464222071440015933.post-30941105468989831272011-01-26T12:38:41.687-05:002011-01-26T12:38:41.687-05:00Michaele, I actually think this has been a big the...Michaele, I actually think this has been a big theme of his for a while. I said this in my <a href="http://jaltcoh.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-blogging-president-obamas-2010.html" rel="nofollow">live-blog of last years's SOTU:</a><br /><br />9:31 - "Meanwhile, <i>China's </i>not waiting to revamp its economy. ... <i>India's </i>not waiting." He flashed some uncharacteristically brusque anger here.John Althouse Cohenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11703450281424023177noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464222071440015933.post-41760787509287762432011-01-26T12:32:31.678-05:002011-01-26T12:32:31.678-05:00Interesting to read the reaction of someone in you...Interesting to read the reaction of someone in your age group. I didn't find Obama's concern about the US not being regarded as #1 very convincing since in many past speeches, he has, most often, sounded neutral about that status. His default approach is usually to go to the "on the one hand, on the other hand" as in "the United States thinks it is exceptional just as France, Britain, etc, think they are exceptional".michaelehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06370942132583989253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464222071440015933.post-86794260661829415582011-01-26T12:13:43.853-05:002011-01-26T12:13:43.853-05:00National rankings is the situational ethics of geo...National rankings is the situational ethics of geopolitics.<br /><br />When other countries rank higher the the U.S. according to some metric like longevity or fourth-grade math scores, it's left-wing to make that a rallying cry and right-wing to point out the flaws in the comparison.<br /><br />When other countries rank higher than the U.S. according to some metric like defense spending, it's right-wing to make that a rallying cry and left-wing to point out the flaws in the comparison.<br /><br />But to wax competitive about other countries waxing competitive can go either way. He's either Pat Buchanan or Ralph Nader. Either way it's the politics of a demagogue.<br /><br />Wouldn't it have been lovely to have <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_at_state.html" rel="nofollow">Hans Rosling take the stage at the moment and rhapsodize about the developing of the developing world</a>:<br /><br />"The problem I have is that the world view my students have correspond to the reality in the world the year their teachers were born."<br /><br />Sputnik indeed.Henryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14480329783749187372noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464222071440015933.post-32392397704151503402011-01-26T11:49:10.801-05:002011-01-26T11:49:10.801-05:00You think what I said in this post is conservative...You think what I said in this post is conservative? I was expecting it to be criticized as left-wing.John Althouse Cohenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11703450281424023177noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4464222071440015933.post-23825752221804899362011-01-26T11:37:28.517-05:002011-01-26T11:37:28.517-05:00Sounds good. Let your reasonably conservative fla...Sounds good. Let your reasonably conservative flag fly.Meadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00117933390338651739noreply@blogger.com