Communications

Friedman watching America unglued

Undermining your sense of nationalism, or lack there of, and observing the views of another country is part of the main idea of the article, "Watching an America unglued". Subtly, however the author also wants us to understand his own concern with the way our government responded to the hurricane. Additionally the author is attempting to show how our government should be held accountable, and change drastically from where they are now.

Our government in contrast to the ruling body of Singapore, a smaller, weaker country is a powerful comparison; with America being a world super power, and so prosperous. Singapore a world away and almost unattainable in our minds brings forth wonderment of how a small island could handle their affairs so much better than America. This supports the main idea of the article, and makes the words that much more damaging. Also adding in the thought of America no longer having healthy competition with another superpower, and somewhat becoming lazy without the competition of any other country, thus showing American government to be lax, is a wonderful point. However, pointing out the discipline, and accountability citizens of Singapore have for their government, is not very helpful for this author's argument. It is very difficult for most people in America to comprehend the way the government is run in Singapore. The author did make a very good attempt at non-hostile thought process though.

The author starts the article well by explaining the situation he will be addressing, "Hurricane Katrina". This gives the reader a setting to build from. The article then leads into how other countries, with special attention to Singapore looked upon the great United States with disbelief of the improper handling of the disaster. This I believe is used to keep the reader interested and keep going. Elaboration then changes to how another country could possibly handle a disaster better than America, let alone a small Asian country where the last we heard caning was still in practice. Finishing with a slight hint of corruption in the United States; and the high amount of accountability Singapore has for their government officials makes the reader want to call his congressman immediately.

The author attempts