Sections of the European left love nothing more than proclaiming that the West’s moment has passed. Here’s an example from today’s Guardian by Martin Jacques (a man who edited a magazine called Marxism Today when that bizarre and murderous cult was, thankfully, already yesterday). His main theme? The rise of India and China. Interesting, perhaps, but you don’t have to be an American triumphalist to find this piece more than a touch bizarre in the frenzied desperation of its arguments. My favorite bit?

“The contrast between China and the United States could hardly be more striking. The former dates back thousands of years, the latter not much more than 200; the former is a product of an ancient civilisation, the latter an invented nation whose citizens bear allegiance to a political document, the constitution. It is little wonder that Americans constantly need to reinvent themselves: the Chinese, unsurprisingly, have no such problem, they know exactly who they are.”

The Chinese feel no need to reinvent themselves, eh, Martin? Maybe it’s just my faulty memory, but I seem to recall they have had a revolution or two themselves over the past century.

But perhaps that’s just my imagination.