Jamal Mecklai: Happy fourth of July

MARKET MANIAC

A few weeks ago, I met a lovely young woman "" actually a niece of mine of Pakistani descent, who I had never met before. She lives in New Jersey, has been working in New York, and, prior to going to law school, decided she wanted to work with an NGO in Pune helping deprived children. Interestingly, the NGO was started by a friend of hers "" a blond-haired, blue-eyed American girl "" and is staffed largely by volunteers from her college (Emory University in Atlanta).

While Mariam (my niece) is a wonderful person in so many ways, what is even more wonderful is that her NGO-ness is not unique. It is a reflection of a new openness that has become increasingly apparent in the large numbers of young Americans "" whether on break from school or their careers "" who are spending time working with NGOs in India (and, no doubt, other places). This curiosity, openness and, importantly, the understanding that working with different "" often, less materially privileged "" people is a critical part of their own growth and education, is certainly a shift from the "greed is good" generation of the late 1990s.

Indeed, one of the great disappointments of the 20 years till about 2005 was the loud indifference of US college students to politics, the environment, global co-operation, and all the good things that kids are supposed to be excited about. While none of these cultural drivers had wound down to absolute zero, they were considerably cooler than during the 1970s and early 1980s, when I was in college and then living in the US. This surprising quiet, particularly on campuses, was attributed first to the fierce competition for jobs that was unleashed by the initial waves of globalisation; later, it became the fierce competition to be the first on your block to get a Gordon Gecko haircut.

Now, suddenly "" well, not so suddenly "" the culture seems to be turning again. And we are seeing the change in all sorts of places "" notably including Citigroup, where Vikram Pandit wants "to change the way bonuses were calculated to reward co-operation across different divisions and the performance of the company as a whole...[rather than as] At present, ...dependent on the results of a manager's division and individual performance."

A new world, indeed, and as I think about it, this new wave sweeping America has probably had as much to do with Mr Obama's amazing victory as his own redoubtable value. And make no mistake, while he is currently just the Democratic nominee, he will certainly be the next US President.

His first task will be to start to reverse the long decline in American influence, which began, in my view, with Mr Reagan's foolish squeeze of funding for US global cultural activities in the 1980s, which sharply curtailed meaningful dialogue with people in many parts of the world. This inability to interact with different cultures and people was a key contributor to the "we know everything" attitude "" remarkably similar to that described in Eugene Lederer's 1958 book The Ugly American "" that led to Bush's grotesque and deadly parody of American might in Iraq. Hardly surprising, then, that, despite all the good that many Americans do, America's popularity rating over the past several years has been the lowest of any country.

The good news is that Obama's victory has already started changing that. If America could elect "" well, all right, at least put into play "" a black man, perhaps it ain't so backward any more, goes the refrain. [And, yes, the word is "backward". Rich and strong as America may be, much of the world considers it a primitive country, in terms of how it deals with other countries and, often, with its poorest citizens. Indeed, you will find many, many Americans who sadly share that view.] The world is already expecting not just a kinder, gentler America, but one which is much more open to co-operation and ready to listen. In other words, an America that finally genuinely acknowledges globalisation.

With the global economy going into a swoon "" and it's hard to predict when that will turn around "" it is imperative more than ever that there is more inclusive thinking at all levels, and that the politics of parochialism is shunted to the back of the bus. Not that narrow-mindedness and corrupt politics will simply die away, whether in America or every other country in the world. That would be too much to ask.

But, the good news is that the kids are back in the game. And, this time they are much, much smarter. To paraphrase David Brooks, a columnist in the New York Times, rather than being driven by spiritualism or socialism, today's do-gooders are more in the venture capital mode "" sensitive, but getting things done.

I'd call it the sixties without any "" or hardly any "" drugs.

Which means that the cultural shift will be relatively non-confrontational, and will likely set in quite rapidly. A new America "" one that realises both that it is a great country and that there are dozens, hundreds of other great countries in the world "" AND a new world order.

Welcome home, Uncle Sam. Happy Fourth of July!