Ted Lasso and the Case for Strategic Optimism

I wrote this in the winter of 2021 but figured I might as well publish it now that I'm trying to do more writing.

The past year has been among the most dire in recent American history. Despite our vast wealth and the world’s best infectious disease and public health infrastructure, the country has been brought to its knees by the COVID-19 pandemic that, as of January 7th, has killed over 1 in every 1,000 Americans, infected millions more, and plunged the economy into a deep freeze. At the same time, the country saw a bitterly contested election turn into a contested transition, peaking with a mob of right-wing extremists seizing the Capitol building and driving Congress into hiding for several hours. In the best-case scenario, former Vice President Joe Biden will be inaugurated as the oldest new president in history, with a Congress deeply split between an increasingly belligerent Trumpist GOP and a Democratic coalition increasingly divided between suburban moderates and urban liberals.

Outside our borders, China rapidly recovered from the pandemic and aggressively marketed its superior response to the world, rapidly pivoting to a more expansionist posture that demands recognition of its great power status. In Europe, our closest allies fought their own prolonged battles with COVID and amongst themselves, with prolonged negotiations over Brexit deepening tensions. While the United States has drawn into itself through its struggles with COVID and internal political fighting, other nations such as Turkey and India have become increasingly more autocratic and more regionally assertive. Looming over all of this is the as-yet unaddressed threat of climate change to unleash further economic and societal havoc on the broader world.

Amidst all of this, it’s increasingly difficult to muster a case for optimism. However, there remain reasons to be optimistic about America quickly recovering its footing and joining with our allies to present a model for a liberal, democratic success in the world. The first step in achieving such a recovery is both simple and difficult at the same time: in the immortal words of Ted Lasso, fictional coach of AFC Richmond football club – “You’ve gotta believe.”

For those of you unfamiliar with Lasso, or his eponymous TV show on AppleTV, there will be a few spoilers below. Lasso is an American football coach who is recruited by the female owner of AFC Richmond to manage them, despite having no experience or knowledge of soccer (or, for those outside of the US, “real” football) in order to run the club into the ground (a la “Major League”) as revenge on her ex-husband.

Lasso, based on a character from an extremely humorous and successful set of commercials for Premier League soccer from 2014, initially appears deeply in over his head with a folksy demeanor and no knowledge of the sport whatsoever. Lasso’s quirky wisdom, his deep focus on developing his players as people and as athletes, and, most importantly, his almost unrelenting positivity slowly win over a hostile press, the locker room, the fans, and, finally, the owner. While the team does not avoid relegation, by the finale Ted has brought his team to a position where season two’s inevitable fight for promotion back to the Premier League seems assured.

In many ways, Lasso represents a throwback view of the American ideal. It’s somewhat unfortunate that in an age when an increasingly diverse generation is stepping into leadership positions that one of the best exemplars on television remains a straight, white man, but the principles and values he presents are exactly those America has embraced before and must embrace again. Decency, charity and almost naïve (but never actually naïve) optimism used to be hallmarks of America. These are the exact virtues that Lasso brings to bear in his coaching, and they must be rediscovered by American policymakers. Restoring our position in the world doesn’t require “swagger,” indeed the crushing humiliations of the past few decades should have imposed quite a bit of humility on us, but we cannot succeed if we do not believe in ourselves any longer.

And, indeed, there remains tremendous reason for optimism about America. We continue to possess vast resources, a dynamic and efficient economy, world-class universities and research facilities, and an educated and growing population that pulls in some of the best and the brightest in the world. The past few years have strained and stretched our alliances farther than many of us would have wanted, but the network of states that seek to support our vision of the world and would work with us to support their interests remains vastly larger than our competitors. When viewed in combination, these strengths give us ample reason for confidence that we can continue to protect and promote a liberal, democratic order in the wider world.

Too many policymakers have become seduced into focusing on the many real and legitimate challenges we face to recognize that we have within ourselves the means to overcome them. Part of this is because the challenges are growing as the dominance of the 1990s and early 2000s fades into the past, but part of it also reflects our recent run of failures, stretching from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, through the 2008 financial crisis, to our failed interventions in Syria, to the civil strife that has dominated much of the past four years.

However, as Ted would be the first to tell you, when it comes to failure it is important to “be a goldfish” and forget about the past. While we shouldn’t forget about our missteps entirely and must learn from them, we also cannot allow them to hang over our attempts to move forward. Policymakers must approach their tasks with a sense of shared purpose, a recognition of the obligations and interests of our nation, and a sincere and sustained belief that we can succeed.