Why we can't all just get along

I walked by an empty cubicle the other day and noticed a copy of The Economist lying on the desk. Though it was a couple of weeks old, I couldn't resist picking it up and thumbing through it. It's a magazine I've subscribed to on and off for years, most recently during my years in London. If you've never heard of it (gasp) or never read it, you need to get a copy -- for your own well being if for no other reason. You can get a discounted copy at Costco.

With so much crap going on around us in the world, it's just nice to sit down and absorb a reasoned and well written point of view. It's more than food for thought. It's consoling. The coverage is global. I know this is somewhat of a foreign concept to most navel gazing Americans. But it gives a world perspective despite the fact that it's a British publication. The section on the United States is concise and, well, just excellent. You will read stories that you won't find elsewhere, like the battle to make uranium mining legal in Virginia. Even the writeups of stories you're already familiar with take on a new life with new facts and amazing perspective. It is so well written that it's a joy to read them over again anyhow.

The Economist is not about journalistic egos or heroes, either. The stories are not by-lined or signed even though the magazine is comprised of an excellent staff of writers and editors. And, unlike most other news publications these days, it is not getting hammered by the economy. In fact, both Time and Newsweek have announced their intentions to remake themselves in the image of The Economist.

A great example of why I like The Economist is the Lexington column, a weekly one-pager on the U.S. The one I just read was headlined: Obama derangement syndrome. It examines the fairly dramatic polarization that is already happening in this country over our new president and how much less likely Americans are to give the new guy a chance than only a couple decades ago. It concludes that this "tit for tat demonisation" is not only poisoning American political life, it is making it ever harder to solve problems that require cross-party collaboration. It now takes an outside perspective to shine the line on how petty and unproductive our political system has become even in the deepest of crises.

How can any educated person not become fatigued if not downright disgusted with today's political scene? I just signed up for a subscription. I know I'll feel better after I start reading it again.