The new generation gives George hope.

Question: Are you generally optimistic or pessimistic about the way the world is headed?

Bill George: Well I'm an optimist by nature, and I am always thinking we can make things better. I would certainly think that the way things . . . the trends of the last five years would make one rather pessimistic. Because the situation has worsened in almost every country of the world; and our relationships have of almost every country in the world from here in the U.S.  And so it's hard to be optimistic; but I think that the power of the American spirit and the power of American capitalism, entrepreneurship . . . And actually I think Americans rising up as global leaders.  I think we'll see a new generation.  So I'm quite optimistic about the new generation, but we're gonna have to go through this kind of generation transfer to move through.  And I think that's gonna take a lot of hard work and leaders to bring people together.

Recorded on: Jul 7 2007