The Bear and the Alien Probe

I very clearly remember a story I read in 8th grade. It was a science fiction story, an old one, about an alien probe that comes to Earth to collect biological samples and ends up chasing the main character around some mountains. It was called "The Ruum."

At one point in the story, the alien probe, closing in on our hero, is waylaid by a grizzly bear, which grabs the probe and attempts to crush it to death. The hero stands watching the spectacle, cheering even as he knows the bear is doomed - seconds later, the probe slashes the bear's throat with the scalpel.

To me, the fight between the bear and the machine from space was a John Henry moment. The bear was tragic, an ancient and dignified natural force, feared and respected in its time. The alien machine was something cold, ruthless, inexorable, but an interloper, an unwelcome guest whose only claim to legitimacy was raw power. The bear was almost pathetic, pitting its fragile sinew and muscle and bone against that dread machine. I wanted the bear to win.

When I read about the attempts by Chuck Schumer and Lindsey Graham to force China to revaluate its currency, I'm reminded of that bear. There's something utterly quaint and old-fashioned about a Republican and a Democrat coming together to fight for the good of their country, in an age when partisan infighting is all-consuming. In fact, there's something quaint and romantic about the idea that Congress itself - once upon a time the grizzly bear of the world's governments - baring any claws at all. The President is the leader of our country, we all know that, but there's still the faint ghost of the sense that within that big white Colonial-style dome on Capitol Hill resides the true guardian of democracy, even if it's only sleeping.

China plays the perfect alien probe - blank-faced, ruthless, inexorable, and alien. And just like the bear's clumsy crush, Schumer and Graham's legislation would be a futile assault even if it ever did pass. China would simply peddle its cheap high-quality goods to other markets (and its own people), while the U.S. economy suffered under high inflation and rising interest rates.

I know protectionism is a bad idea. I know that even the current imbalanced trade we have with China is better than cutting ourselves off from that mega-market. I know that such a move would imperil the global trade system that has done so much to raise our standards of living. I rationally understand why Graham-Schumer is a terrible idea.

But I guess I have yet to be fully infused by the cold Bismarckian logic of economics. I can't help watching the currency clash with a sort of nostalgic hope, a belief that my "team" will somehow pull out another victory in the end, that the giant that was Congress is sleeping but not dead. Like the man in the story, I can't help watching the stupid old bear and hoarsely cheering it on.