The Return of Zumoman

Well, the title of the post says a lot - I have returned. From what? Why was I off this week? Well, three philosophy papers and 16 pages of research for history kind of got me bogged down. So bogged down in fact, that I'm now sick. I never know how to feel when this happens. Should I be angry because I finally have some time to relax and I'm now sick or should I be grateful that I didn't get sick while I had to do all of my work? Obviously the latter, but I can't escape a little bit of the anger as well. But fortunately for my readers (or perhaps unfortunately), being sick offers me little to do other than sit at my computer and write blog posts!

First, a little football. The first legs of the round of 16 were played mid-week, and to be honest, nothing really all the unexpected happened. Bayern Munich are virtually already through after clobbering Sporting Lisbon 5-0. The Spanish sides did rather badly (0-1-3). The highlight of those results being Real Madrd's 0-1 defeat to Liverpool - a header from the little Israeli, Yossi Benayoun, in the last 10 minutes giving Liverpool a 1-0 lead to take back to Anfield and a precious away goal. I think the psychological consequences could be even more significantly beneficial to my teams. Madrid have been catching up to Barca in the league - having won their last nine fixtures, and Liverpool have been slipping further back of Man Utd. The confidence boost for Liverpool and the new doubts for Madrid are great.

While I'm on the topic of Liverpool, there's been more good news out of Anfield today. Rick Parry, the chief executive who insists upon being in control of transfers, has announced he will be resigning at the end of the season. Part of the delay in Rafa Benitez signing a new contract has been related to Benitez's desire to be in full control of transfers. Parry's resignation should open the door for Benitez to finally sign the new contract - yay!
I managed to catch that game and the Barca game as my mini-breaks this weeks. Barca looked good up front, but couldn't find more than one goal in what should have been a much higher scoring affair than the 1-1 draw it was with Lyon. Lyon went up 1-0 inside the first ten minutes after Valdes misjudged a free kick from Juninho who I'm convinced wasn't even trying to score. Then Lyon should have been up 2-0 30 seconds later as Benzema was one on one with Valdes. Benzema shot tepidly wide, but Pique almost managed to redirect it into the net - scary moment for the big Spanish defender. Barca grabbed the initiative and were the better side for most of the rest of the game, but could only manage to equalize off a corner - a diving header from Henry after Marquez had deflected the ball across the box. There's an absolutely fantastic picture of the celebration; I encourage you to check it out: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/gallery?id=622233&index=13&cc=5901.

For some non-football stuff... Paul Krugman had a column today that didn't predict the end of the world as we know it - first time in months... The column revealed his support for Obama's budget, explaining how much more transparent it is than Bush's budgets. Of note is also that it looks ahead 10 years instead of 5, addresses global warming, and changes the graduation of the tax system. So, thanks Paul for dispatching with your pessimism. And thanks Obama for beginning to take serious problems seriously.

I'd like to talk a little bit about the United States and its self-perception. For the sake of this discussion I will be using the term "Usamerican" in place of "American." This will hold for future columns as well. When I first heard this term, I was dumbstruck - thinking it another ploy by the rest of the world to take pot-shots at aMERica! The more I thought about it, however, the more I realized how ethnocentric it is for us to call ourselves Americans. Are Brazilians not also Americans? What about Guatemalans? It seems obvious that the term American reflects an ethnocentric sense of self.

As I offer some criticism of the United States again, I hope you will not think me to be "anti-Usamerican." I'm really not. I just find it healthy to point out flaws in our thinking. This one has struck me recently: despite being the world's dominant power for only 65 years (since the end of WWII), we perceive a certain inevitability about it - that it was almost meant to be and will always be! How ludicrous!

In looking at any type of historical analysis, no civilization spends forever as the world's dominant one. If we look at the dominance of "Western" civilization (1500-present), we see that it is characterized by relatively short periods of individual dominant powers. Italy (1500-1600), The Netherlands (1600-1688), Britain (1688-1880), Germany (1880-1945), United States (1945-Present). These are, of course, general outlines, not historical fact, and should be contested if someone feels they misrepresent the history of "Western" hegemons.

The question is why Usamericans, having been the dominant power for at most 65 years, feel this sense of entitlement to it. We deserve it. It is our destiny. These are not only the maxims of the people, but of our government as well - not just the Republican administration that left, but the Democratic administration that came in. Maybe it is a rhetorical vote-grubbing tool, but if there is an element of belief on the part of our current administration that the period of Usamerican hegemony will continue indefinitely, this is highly disconcerting. For it would mean that the administration would do anything in its power to maintain Usamerican hegemony.

As the United States continues to lose power - and it will - the harder the administration attempts to hold on to it, the more violence will be justified in the name of the United States. We cannot allow this to happen. None of the transitions of power on a worldwide scale have ever been peaceful. We must learn from the past and not allow this one to be as violent. If it is, it may well be the end of the world - quite literally.

So of course, I have just criticized Paul Krugman for his pessimism, but I myself have offered a rather pessimistic view of the future of the world. I will say, however, that I do not believe our end to have come just yet. China is not yet ready, and we are still very strong economically and militarily. It will be some time in this century, though, when the shift of power occurs. We must be ready to relinquish it peacefully, not bring the entire world down with us.