Decline of the West, as Measured in Skyscrapers

Since today is a fairly slow day, I was able to indulge in one of my favorite pastimes: Scanning the "news" headlines on MSN.com after signing out of Hotmail. Call it a slightly sick fascination, but there's just something irresistible about the junk content I see routinely splashed on this and other quasi-news sites, because I get the feeling that more and more people get their information, and worse, their opinions from such outlets. Sometimes it's pure fluff, and thus, non-threatening; the other day, I saw a headline that asked "Can You Rent a Beehive?" Stupid, to be sure, but also pretty innocuous.

But then, there's the stupid stuff with the potential to poison innocent minds. Today I found just such a whopper. In this very, very ominous survey of America's continuing fall from greatness, we're told various countries that you've probably never even heard of before are zooming past the U.S. on the world's economic totem pole. Among my favorite indicators cited as proof of our national decline:

1) In the most recent Forbes survey of billionaires, Russia (Russia!) ran the U.S. a close second, with 87 citizens with net worths of 10 figures.

Well, let's see. Eighty-seven Russian tycoons with ties to the state-dominated oil industry have cashed in on record oil prices and become billionaires. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization reports 1.6 million HIV cases in Russia (an increase of 150 percent since 2001), a national per-capita income approximately one-fourth that of the U.S., and an average life expectancy roughly 10 years shorter. But what does any of that matter, so long as a tiny plutocracy enjoys virtually all of the country's alleged prosperity? (For now, anyway. Most of that wealth is the result of oil revenues, and Russia's aging oil fields are in major decline.)

2) Toyota is threatening to displace GM as the largest auto manufacturer in the world, thanks to its vehicles' superior gas mileage.

There's no denying that Toyota is a well-run company, and GM has been a basket case lately. But as the Wall Street Journal reported this morning, both are struggling in the North American market these days, and that largely spells the difference between profit and loss. Patriotic "Buy American!" sentiment to the contrary, Toyota is having the same problems as GM; namely, trying to switch from making big, inefficient SUVs to small cars. For years, SUVs were huge money-makers for GM, and foreign competitors like Toyota did their best to get in on the action. Now the Toyota plants that build its trucks and SUVs are largely idle, and the company is scrambling to ramp up production of the thrifty fuel-sippers that people actually want to buy. (Go into a Toyota dealership to buy a Prius and they'll be happy to put you on the three-month waiting list for one.)

3) London is competing with New York City to be the world's financial capital.

Gee, talk about lightning from a clear blue sky! Back-water, podunk London, the city that once administered a quarter of the world's surface and dominated global commerce for centuries is suddenly a financial powerhouse? Get out of here! Worrying that the City is becoming as important as New York in the banking and financing arena is like worrying that Pepsi sells almost as much cola as Coke: the planet is big enough for the both of them.

4) The world's tallest building is in Taiwan.

What!?

The common thread that seems to string all these stupid assertions together is an obsession with superlatives. "Oh no, they almost have more billionaires than we do! Their banks might become bigger than ours! Their tallest skyscraper is taller than our tallest skyscraper!" The rational response to each is: Who cares? None of these things measures the quality of life here versus abroad, and none even constitutes a significant economic indicator. If this is how the "average American" decides how he feels about his country, it's no wonder opinion polls consistently report that people think we're in trouble, even when they consistently say they feel good about their own economic situation.