For columnist Fyodor Lukyanov of Russia’s Gazeta, America’s ugly debate about raising the U.S. debt ceiling serves as a disturbing counterpoint to Greece’s flirtation with bankruptcy. According to Lukyanov, it is precisely the sense of fruitless confrontation in Washington that is the greatest source of American discouragement.
For Gazeta, Fyodor Lukyanov writes in part:
On the day the Greek Parliament voted for draconian budget cuts intended to save the country from bankruptcy, mainstream U.S. news stations began live morning coverage from Athens. Shots of disorder in the streets of the Greek capitol were interspersed with live coverage of politicians and financiers from around the world discussing the possibility of a default. But only 30 percent were commenting on the probability of a default in Greece. The rest were talking about the possible default of the United States, which at the time was just over a month away.
Until recently, hardly anyone would have thought of comparing the economic situation of one of the European Union ‘s least developed countries to that of the most powerful nation on earth. But the coincidence once again reminds us of how unstable and entangled everything is in today’s world. The parallels became even more evident by noon: at that very moment, as the Greek Parliament adopted its unfortunate bill, President Barack Obama began a specially-convened White House press conference on the impasse in negotiations with Congressional Republicans on the budget crisis.
The author of these words has never felt this level of depression and pessimism in Washington. The driving force behind this disappointment is of course the economy: the post-recession recovery is slow, the huge fiscal injection in 2009 meant to stimulate growth, according to common opinion, failed to yield the anticipated results. But most disturbing is the nearly 10 percent rate of unemployment – 14 million people. For Europe, with its still generous social welfare system, this is the norm. But Americans are accustomed to relying on themselves and feel extreme discomfort due to the lack of progress in the job market.
After two decades of absolute world domination, the country has exhausted its past way of doing things. It is clearly at a crossroads and awaits consolidation on some kind of new basis. … But such a basis is nowhere to be seen.”
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