in fact I used the words quintessentially American, to foreign eyes, and I was justly chastized for generalizing.

Still, it seems there are others, namely thousands of Asian savers, who feel the same way, and continue to invest their money in the US, in spite of the recent upheavals.

Why? Because of Sarah Palin, or more acurately, what she represents to them, the ordinary people of America. And to them

It is the initiative of ordinary people that makes America's political system the world's most reliable. Spengler

This is nice mythology but hardly true. We are not the hardiest, the thriftiest or the toughest. We are blessed by living in a land with no borders harboring ancient enemies. Our country was empty after we killed off its prior inhabitants. We were lucky to have tremendous founders and of course, we were the children of the English system which is the most important attribute of all. Then, we went to work in a land filled with plenty of room, plenty of resources and plenty of riches. Not that surprising that we did well despite a Civil War. People invest in us because they think its a good investment. Not because of us but because of the whole package. They also invest in other countries, you could look it up.

I never get tired of that joke.

right

but I think the top post was about the reliability of the US political system, which is what makes asians think it's a good place to put their money.

and the common person that Palin symbolizes to foreigners, to whom they attribute the reliability.

The Anglosphere is still on top. Especially if we include India.

However, America is good at providing new blood in its leadership. By which I mean outsidery types who didn't all go to the same schools and don't all think the same way. This is probably because of the sheer size of the place, and the decentralized nature of gummint. So you get governors elected more often than not. It's healthy.

Dammit, when is Australia really going to step up as a world power? They've got a whole continent. Most of it sucks except for the coasts, but still. Sure, they're a regional power, and they make valuable contributions to the Anglosphere. But one would expect a prison colony given a lot of land, an isolated position, and valuable connections to really turn the world on its ear by now.

"Forty years of darkness, earthquakes, volcanoes..."

Urq, I did Pac Rim sales for years and spent a lot of time down under. Its a great, great country filled with super people. Very smart folks and very industrious. Here are the main issues IMHO.

1. Cultural disgust for ostentatious wealth and riches. This is likely because most of them were dead broke jailbirds a few generations ago but they do not like to reward successful people. In fact, they villify them.

2. Not that many people in a huge, barren land. This is why they are letting in so many rich Asians, they need people badly.

3. They are really far away from everyone and every large center. Its an 8 hour flight from Sydney to Singapore for instance.

4. They tax themselves too much but at the end of the day, there is only so much you can buy with only 12 million souls to pay for it. Since the country is gigantic, it takes a lot out of each paycheck to keep it going.

5. They need to look east, not west. They are doing this as we speak.

Seems true of the whole damned Anglosphere, for some reason.

Thanks for your perspective. I've never been there.

English Common Law baby...its the key...

12 million. I had no idea they were that few. That's like half the population of Iraq.

I know they've been dealing with the influx of asians as a cultural issue. They should count themselves lucky.

. . . they gave us the Birthday Party, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, and Crime & the City Solution. Oh, and Peter Weir. Any one of which is cooler than anything we've cooked up.

Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, and Robert Hughes, author and art critic for TIME Magazine.

Not to mention, many excellent wines, especially white (my favorites). And "Crocodile Dundee." :-) I think the geographic isolation works against them, hugely.

Didn't PJ O'Rourke write a book about the countries that have/don't have a rule of law, and how this is the determinating factor for functioning representative govt?

Speaking of PJ, wouldn't it be great if he slate replaced Hitch on Slate?

It used to be 12 million in the late 90s, it may be a bit more now but at the end of the day, not many Aussies for a country the size of the USA surrounded by water...