Is Gotham (America) worth saving?

The League of Shadows has decided that Gotham is beyond saving, and must be destroyed. The resulting chaos will destroy the allure of Gotham once and for all, and allow something newer and purer to rise in its place.

The remarkable insight of this astute analogy is that this argument over whether Gotham is beyond saving takes place only between Batman and his mentor-turned-nemesis in the form of Liam Neeson. As Gotham goes about its daily grind, rotten to the core, no one in the bubble is aware that the debate has moved beyond the tired minutiae of what passes for life in the Belly of the Beast.

Since I often have the privilege of having my work translated, I have contacts in dozens of countries around the world, who remind me of the truth that the American penchant for self-deception is tottering on the edge. This one, like all bubbles, is as flimsy as it is transparent. My wife and I watched with dismay as our foreign friends recoiled one by one, fleeing their adopted America in the wake of such grim foreboding. The election seemed to be the last straw, as even Yankeephiles desperate to forgive the people while condemning their government finally gave up. “You’re on your own,” they seemed to say — and who can blame them — as the very real question loomed (beyond the grasp of most Americans) of whether Gotham was beyond saving.

Smirking Chimp