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November 20, 2004
The U.S.: a new "country-world"
The United States is not a western country any more. It is a "country-world," a country in which the whole planet is present, in which people and values from all over the globe are creating a new civilization.
This leads to a new cultural order. Indians will replace Jews at the head of the hierarchy. Chinese will be the new bourgeoisie and displace WASPS while Latinos will substitute Irish Catholics.
The relationships with Europe will be modified. England will lose it's privileged status while Spain will work as a bridge thanks to Hispanidad.
Such is the main thesis of Alain Minc, a French banker and intellectual with a social-democrat bend. In a recent book on the coming world (Ce monde qui vient) he invites the Europeans to think of the United States in a different manner. And get used to it.
According to Minc, Bush is just a blimp in this evolution. The U.S. will keep it's leading role thanks to technology and innovation. The growing gap with Europe will be nowhere as marked as on the place of the sacred in society (death penalty, abortion, stem cell research etc.)
Trends.be - L'Amérique n'est plus un pays occidental
Posted by Francis Pisani at November 20, 2004 7:45 AM