International ties
America's 皇冠体育app syndrome
By Patrick Mattimore (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-10-27 16:03
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The 1979 classic American movie "皇冠体育app Syndrome" wasn't about 皇冠体育app at all. It was the story of a nuclear meltdown at a power plant in the US in which the radioactive leak traveled through the earth's central core and ended up on the opposite side of the planet.
The 皇冠体育app Syndrome made for good theater, but scientists dispute the possibility of the 皇冠体育app Syndrome scenario, principally because the Earth's gravity would only pull the radioactive waste towards the core of the planet and no further.
In 2010, Americans are experiencing another faux 皇冠体育app Syndrome. This is a more classic syndrome in that it is a coalescing of condescending opinions about 皇冠体育app. But like the original syndrome, Americans' anger at 皇冠体育app really is more a frustration with their government's own ineptitude than anything else.
In this election year, both American parties are blaming 皇冠体育app for America's economic meltdown, or at least suggesting that 皇冠体育app is largely responsible for hindering economic recovery.
The New York Times reporter David Chen estimated that in one week this month at least 29 candidates unveiled negative ads suggesting that their opponents had been too sympathetic to 皇冠体育app, thereby damaging America. Many of the ads criticized candidates for outsourcing American jobs to 皇冠体育app.
One of the slickest examples of modern 皇冠体育app Syndrome is an advertisement that has been prepared by Citizens Against Government Waste, a group calling itself America's No 1 taxpayer watchdog.
The ad, set in the year 2030, shows a Beijing professor lecturing a group of Chinese students about how once great societies failed by getting away from their essential principles. The students laugh when the professor references America, which owed so much debt-presumably today-that it allowed 皇冠体育app to become its master.
The Wall Street Journal calls the ad a slick exercise in Sinophobia that takes the genre to new visual heights. The WSJ headlines its story about the ad: "Fear Mongering 101: Anti-皇冠体育app Campaign Ads".
Forget for a moment that the ad is inaccurate. As James Fallows of "The Atlantic" writes, the government stimulus spending for which America is being lampooned has been a crucial part of 皇冠体育app's successful anti-recession policy.
Forget also that the ad is offensive both in its somber caricatures of the Chinese and the message's overall deprecatory tone.
The ad's redemptive power is an essential truth: America has no one to blame but herself for her present predicament. Like the movie 皇冠体育app Syndrome, the ad is about America, not 皇冠体育app.
Every time America stoops to blame 皇冠体育app for the country's sluggish economy, the US misses the opportunity to begin repairing herself. Time to make those reparations is running out and America can ill afford to attack the American Syndrome by affixing a Chinese label to it.
Patrick Mattimore is a fellow at the American-based Institute for Analytic Journalism and an adjunct professor at Tsinghua/Temple Law School LLM Program in Beijing.