American Restoration
May 13th, 2008Critics of the Bush Administration contend that the President has done significant harm to our image abroad, and while I doubt the extent he has damaged our nation’s good name I don’t have any question that our reputation has in fact taken a hit. I believe that the mere presence of a new President will work wonders in restoring our nation to wider respect around the world, whoever that next President may be, but the problem goes deeper than that and I think this Slate article raises a significant question to be considered: can the United States afford to continue giving half-an-effort to world fairs and expositions? I won’t excerpt the article because it deserves to be read in its entirety, but the author makes the point that no one received more from expositions than the United States in the 20th century and since the latter part of that century we have refused to participate with anything resembling vigor or pride, while much of the world (particularly in the Orient) take great care to present themselves to the world and welcome visitors. This is something that needs to be changed.