Sunday, March 23, 2003

Dancing with the elephant I find a curious positive regard for this war from entrepreneurs who on all other things would be left-leaning and expected to suport the peace protests. The virtually unilateral action that my country has taken against Iraq breaks a contract with Europe and with the world, that America would keep its sword sheathed except in defense. But pre-emption is something that I and business friends I talk with can understand. Despite that we're very concerned that success in this war will give President Bush carte blanche (are French words still permitted . . . ?) to effect a radical right wing domestic agenda, we find outselves giving begrudging support to this military action. I think that we, and probably naively, identify with the aggressive "first to market" approach it represents. But we better identify with the perspective of Tony Blair than that of the Bush team, the latter which seems to be negatively about America's defense rather than positively about the creation of a new world. In fact, at risk of extending this line of thought too far, the President does indeed act with all the vision of a large corporation threatened by a competitive landscape it doesn't like and doesn't understand. Prime Minister Blair, on the other hand, acts like a nimble entrepreneur who recognizes that he has to play a dangerous and creative game, risking a lot in his dance with the elephant if he's to have any hope of tipping global forces in a direction that fits his global, social vision. 8:39:37 PM     comment []

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