Welcome to the Sea of Echoes

On the road the other day I came across a post on the New York Times Climate Blog referring to this news story from Xinhua News Agency - “Verdant Mountains Cannot Stop Water Flowing; Eastward the River Keeps on Going“.  The article describes how Chinese Premier Wen Jibao travelled to Copenhagen to play a pivotal role in the climate talks.

I am by no means an expert on climate change or emissions policies, and in fact I take the somewhat pessimistic view that climate change is inevitable. 

By various estimates we have several decades of proven reserves left, and the number of people on the planet and their appetites have only increased with time.  The existing stocks of fossil fuels will be used in 50 years or perhaps 70 years - what is really at stake is who will be burning that fuel.

To see that this is correct consider the number of vehicles on the planet is almost certainly larger every year, and the owners of these vehicles, having commited to a large sunk cost to purchase them will not let them sit idle as long as the cost of fuel is small compared to the cost of the vehicle.  This is true for all manner of energy consuming devices from lightbulbs to computers.

So Copanhagen is an interesting political forum and there is a lot at stake, but that is not what is interesting about this article.  Consider for a moment that the article is written in a narrative style that places Premier Wen as the protaganist of a thrilling story.

From 16 to 18 December, in the nearly 60 hours Premier Wen Jiabao spent in Copenhagen, he held intensive talks and consultations with other leaders to drive the negotiation process forward. We, as members of the travelling press corps, witnessed the roller-coaster, nail-biting negotiations at Copenhagen. But more importantly, we experienced the sincerity, confidence, resolve and effective efforts Premier Wen brought to Copenhagen, which fully demonstrated China’s image as a responsible big country dedicated to development and cooperation.

Especially entertaining is this description of him deep in thought on the plane ride:

After this mid-air briefing, Premier Wen called a meeting of the accompanying ministers to analyze the position of various parties. Then, alone in his cabin, the premier looked out at the sea of clouds outside the plane, staring intensely, deep in thought. It was not a light-hearted mission, he knew. So many things needed to be considered before the conference could be brought to a fruitful conclusion.

Not only is Premier Wen a very serious and thoughtful person, but he also gives great advice, as great leaders do:

Premier Wen said that as long as there was 1% hope, we must exert 100% efforts and not give up easily.

And he is the example of perfect health and vigor, and a hard worker as well:

At 8:30, Premier Wen walked into the meeting room, brimming with energy and ready for a whole day of intense meetings.

Reading this encouraging portait of the Chinese leader almost makes me wish I were Chinese. 

So what is interesting about the fact that the Chinese news agency writes its coverage as pro-government puff pieces?  It is well known that the Chinese government is not very tolerant of dissent.

But no one could imagine for a minute the American press casting Obama or any US President in such a favorable light.  Since when was a US President a role model for ordinary people.  Sure after the election Obama had his honeymoon, but Americans are fairly skeptical of their leaders.  Is this just a natural difference between China and the US?

Actually I think that it is not.  There has been a change in the way Americans see themselves, which is at once encouraging and crippling.

I was raised on the outskirts of an Ohio military base at a time when American pride was low.  Oil shocks, American hostages in Iran, fresh wounds from Vietnam, assasinations, economic uncertainty and an arms race with the Soviets were all headlines of the day. 

And yet I remember vividly the portraits of American heros which we were inundated with as school children: General Patton, General Eisenhower, the marines of Iwo Jima.  Even as the Vietnam war was still fresh in the papers the narrative of American greatness stemmed from the claim to have saved the world from Hitler three decades earlier.  As long as we believed we were the greatest, most free nation on earth the news in any particular paper was just a temporary setback - a difficulty to be endured and prevailed over.

But that is all different now.  What must happen for us to regain our sense of pride?  Our sense of purpose?  Our willingness to work hard?

Now I am not asking for a return to the false and harmful arrogance of the Bush years. 

But if you take two groups of people and ask them to do a job, and one group believes in themselves and the other group is full of self doubt, what do you think the results will be?

And how long has it been since people have thought that Americans as a people were the most fair, smartest and hardest working people on the planet?

If you have everything, but no purpose,
what you have is meaningless and empty.
If you have nothing at all but a sense of purpose,
that purpose will sustain you. 

I’ll end here with the closing words of the Chinese article.  The Chinese news agency makes a convincing appeal that the Chinese are the standard bearers for the whole world and that the “flowing water” of Chinese pride and ambition will flow ever eastward.

History has shown once again that the biggest challenge of mankind is mankind itself. Unity is the source of strength and cooperation leads to a bright future. The Copenhagen conference has put China on a higher and broader world stage. China has reason to be proud and China will work even harder!

Verdant mountains cannot stop water flowing; eastward the water keeps on going. The Copenhagen conference is a new starting point and from here, the international process of combating climate change will keep forging ahead.

 Who can write a convincing narrative for us?