A Dear George Bush letter
Feb 27 '05
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Dear George,
I see you have been having some troubles lately and I thought a letter of encouragement from Down Under might assist.
Actually this was not my idea – that credit belongs to the Leader of the Opposition here in Australia – Kym Beasley. Now Kym is essentially the alternative Prime Minister and quite likely you haven’t heard of him since John Howard, the second longest Prime Minister of this country ever, is the Australian I suspect is best known to you. John tells us you are a good bloke, a personal observation and an important one as it means that he considers you do have your people’s best interests at heart. It does not mean he agrees with all you do but he is inclined to honour each of our countries commitments to each other.
But back to Kym – Mr. Beasley, I call him Kym, is of the view that the USA is a pretty good country but is out of step with the rest of the democratic world. Naturally your first infamous election has not been forgotten and continues to baffle the rest of us as to how such a debacle could happen. I hasten to add this is not your fault as you inherited the system – you did not make it. The same bafflement is felt about the time limit for US Presidents as surely it is up to the people to decide how long someone should hold such a position – not some presumably Constitutional rule.
See, George, Kym agrees with John that the USA could use a little help from here but more in the form of, how he puts it, “counsel” than pretty much strict adherence to the treaties that exist between Australia and the USA. By this he means that Australia could, and should, broker good relations between the USA and the other major players on this planet, namely the European Union, China and Russia. Kym doesn’t mean this in an arrogant way and is well aware Australia is economically only around tenth in the world. Being tenth is a little arbitrary of course because it takes no account of the European Union which includes several economies greater than ours. Therefore the reality is that Australia, European Union counted as one, is about fifth in the world.
More importantly Australia, I dare to suggest, understands Europe better than the USA as Australia has closely followed, and implemented, European ideals especially over the last twenty or so years. These models are based in Social Justice and that translates to high standards of health care, education, legal representation, a home for all and a decent living wage or social security payment for all citizens as a right rather than a privilege.
George, rightly or wrongly, the USA is seen to be way behind in adopting this model.
I can summarise to this point by stating that, to the rest of the developed world, the US democratic process and social justice model have driven a wedge between the USA and the rest of us.
Now a wedge is, of course, thin at one end and thick at the other. At this point in time only the thin end is inserted but events such as the undue haste in invading Iraq, treating 9/11 as some sort of exclusive attack on the USA and the perceived ignoring of the fact that such attacks have occurred in Europe and here have all served to drive that wedge in a little further.
George, the world does not hate the United States of America.
Rather the world has come to understand that the USA thinks of itself as the great world bastion of freedom and democracy and that what is good for the USA is good for all the citizens of this planet.
Anyone in the USA who still thinks that way really does need to think again.
The world order is changing with the solidarity of Europe, the rise of China in particular and that of Asia in general. Notably we must include the turning tide in the Middle East and Japan. These changes are the future for the next fifty years at least and the USA needs to be a partner, or can be, in that process – the days of leader are gone.
We, as the world’s citizens, need to give much more credence to cultural appropriateness and to lifting up the poor world, notably Africa and much of South America.
The United Nations has, I believe, a much better understanding of what is needed than any one country or even a small group of countries. That is simply because virtually all countries, and therefore cultures, are represented. There is no such thing as a right or wrong culture.
I am a supporter of my leader, John Howard, and when he says you are a good bloke I am inclined to believe him.
So George, I urge you to take up the challenge to assist in improving the world. You know what to do – I only regret you only have a few years left but at least you can make a start.
Please pass this letter on to your successor.
Oh by the way George, I have a good friend who lives near you in Texas – when I come over we should have a barby and a yarn.
Peter
NB I particularly welcome feedback on this one!
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