Question: French journalist Alain Clement offered a partial explanation for Americans' increasing reliance on lawsuits to resolve conflicts: Diverse causes explain the growth of the contentious mood in America. One could be called the devaluing of the future. In 1911, the Russian political scientist Moise Ostrgorski wrote, "Confident of the future, Americans manifest a remarkable endurance to an unhappy present, a submissive patience that is willing to bargain about not only civic rights, but even the rights of man."62
a. What does Clement mean?
b. How do you explain our increased reliance on litigation?