The Process of Modernization

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Yu-Long Ling
(Professor Yu-long Ling, a Franklin resident, is an expert in foreign policy.)
In downgrading American national credit rating, Standard & Poor’s made it clear that the new rating was not based on American economic performance but for other reasons, particularly the political stalemate between Congress and the president. This stalemate took the country to the brink of economic disaster.
Based on these events, I would like to share some of my analysis with the readers here.
In the 1960s, the study of modernization in the Third World was a hot topic. I was in graduate school at Indiana University working toward my doctorate. One of my areas of study was modernization. At that time, a leading scholar, Cyril Edwin Black, published a book on this subject; he considered modernization in five elements: politics, economy, society, culture and education. These five elements are interrelated; when one element changes, the other elements also change. A healthy country cannot have any weak links. Currently, the United States is showing many weaknesses.
Culture is the way of life. As Americans, we are individualistic and materialistic. These are two of the main values in our culture. However, if we put too much emphasis on these two values, we will become too self-centered and greedy.
Social value deals with trust: trust our leaders and trust each other. Trust is the glue of society. We now realize that we do not trust our political leaders. We lack social trust as well. We are starting to come undone.
In order to be successful in this new world, we need to value education. However, due to our current education policy, school budgets are being cut. The best education system in the world is now facing problems and crisis. The United States is no longer No. 1 in the field of education.
Lastly, we have politics. We Americans are very proud of our Constitution. The Constitution establishes a separation of power system — executive, legislative and judicial. By using checks and balances, no one branch is stronger than the other. Under this system, the government is a limited one and less than efficient.
Please keep in mind that when the Constitution was drafted, the physical settings were great, resources plentiful and the population small. Americans could use the guaranteed freedom to provide material security for themselves. This limited and inefficient government served the people well.
More than 200 years later, resources no longer are plentiful, and the population has grown to more than 300 million. Competition has increased domestically and internationally, as well. It is hard for many Americans to survive without the help of our government.
Despite the need, many Americans still hold the belief that government should not get involved with our economic life. The best example is the Tea Party’s role in American politics. Their extreme conservative view toward the Constitution and public policy has forced the Republican Party to take uncompromising positions on every issue.
One thing missing today is the art of compromise. Conflict is inevitable and healthy, but compromise makes the government work. If one party decides not to compromise in any situation, government is not only inefficient but also dysfunctional. Democracy focuses on decision-making process, but democracy cannot handle crisis, natural or man-made, without compromise. Democracy is great, but not perfect.
Based on Professor Black’s analysis, the five elements cannot have one weak link. Unfortunately, we are showing weakness in all five elements. We had better wake up and smell the coffee fast. Otherwise, the worst is yet to come.