Obama’s Speech in Russia II

Text - Obama’s Speech at the New Economic School - Text - NYTimes.com: "We see that progress here at NES -- a school founded with Western support that is now distinctly Russian; a place of learning and inquiry where the test of an idea is not whether it is Russian or American or European, but whether it works."

I hope President Obama is not saying that one should not try anything difficult, something that might not work. Like a start-up company. There is also a problem with this statement when assessing the latest G20 meeting where Obama was on one side and the two Continentals Merkel and Sarkozy was on the other. We still don't know what works best. The American or the European way. Different values play out eventually.

Doing only what works could also mean doing what doesn't hurt, what doesn't scare you, not what is right. When there is no dignity, no moral, as some columnists point out, doing what is right becomes important. Belief is needed before you know whether something works or not.

Then again, Obama knows this. So why is he saying the above? Add China and India to the list and you have a universal rule. Pragmatism around the globe? In the speech Obama talks about a new era. American pragmatism around the globe would probably give the US an advantage though.

What works in Russia, without the democracy and civic society of the US, is however corruption. Without values, what works means corruption.