Sunday, July 15, 2007

Boiled Frogs Again...

clipped from powerlineblog.com

Meyer predicted that the Soviet Union was in its final stages. He argued that the U.S. therefore should begin planning for a post-Soviet world.

Earlier this week, Meyer turned his forecasting skills to the present situation. He noted that there are two competing views about the post-9/11 world: (1) that we're at war with radical Islam and (2) that we're simply experiencing high levels of violence as a result of our values and policies. Under the first view, we should strive for victory and avoid defeat on battlegrounds such as Iraq. Under the second view, we should merely try to reduce episodes of terrorism while adjusting our values and policies.

Meyer subscribes to the first view, but finds the second view to be prevailing now.

One danger, of course, is that we won't be forced to awake until it's too late.
But what about the other danger, that the horrific punch will only restore us to the semi-conscious state of the past few years?
Even if the boiled frog parable is a myth, it does make for a compelling situational assessment.