"he world is dynamic and the Indians, the Chinese, the South Americans, the Koreans, the Russians, pick your own example -- all of them -- understand this as a simple fact of life. From the moment they wake in the morning to the second their head hits the dirt floor at night, they are mentally and emotionally pounded with the relentless concept that they are NOT in first place."

a) Isn't this a couple of billion people to make a sweeping generalization about? b) 'stratosphere of "advancement" that Westernized nations have taken for granted the past 100 years' is a very curious notion. Is South Korea really not at the industrial level of Pittsburgh, 1912? Has Russia, which has continuously been one of the great powers since about 1750, regressed that thoroughly?