Alright, let’s get this straight
Who is Thomas Friedman and what do you know of him?
Well he is a New York Times columnist and Pulitzer Prize winning writer Friedman who has written a couple of books that include, The Lexus and the Olive Tree which came out in 1999 and introduced thousands to the notion of globalization. So, when the book, The World Is Flat came out nearly everybody was reading it. So his new book Hot, Flat, and Crowded may make it official, for many, that ecology-mindedness is the character of our times.
Anyway, the fact of the matter is that I have NOT got down to reading Thomas Friedman’s new book…where he apparently suggests the industries and fields in which we should be investing. Now I have trouble with anyone telling me where people should be investing, but if the reviews in New York Times, Washington Post and the Salon are to be believed, I am fairly sure I will be buying the book.
"The shortest way I can explain it is that 'hot' stands for the increase in global warming, 'flat' is my metaphor for the rise of middle classes all over the world, from India to China to Brazil to Russia, who are now able to consume and produce like Americans, and 'crowded' is the fact that the population of the planet in my lifetime ...has almost tripled."
Friedman it appears offers a thought- provoking, accessible look at the impact of wealth transfer from energy consuming to energy producing nations, failed policies, environmentalism, conservation, greenness, and redefining a vision for America, that “MAY” leave the reader asking questions and demanding solutions. Although some of the ideas presented aren’t new, this book to me appears worth the reader’s time.
Alright so much for the books - but who is Thomas Friedman?
Thomas Lauren Friedman was born on 20th July, 1953. He is an American journalist, neo-liberal columnist and author. Tell me something new!
He apparently is also a contributor to The New York Times and whose column appears twice weekly and mainly addresses topics relating to foreign affairs. TLF [easier calling him that as Thomas Lauren Friedman is a mouthful] is known for supporting a compromise resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and ofcourse the modernization of the Arab world, then environmentalism and now globalization.
However, he has lost a lot of his supporters because of his vehement and open supporter of the invasion of Iraq. He later on became an outspoken critic of the war and the Bush administration which upset his credibility
To quote a few of the comments seen in the net don’t speak much about the publics view about him, thanks to his support of the war - “I used to worship Thomas Friedman until he vocally, vehemently pushed the War in Iraq in line with a social experiment, certain that it would promote democracy in the Middle East. I was so disappointed in his nearsightedness, especially because he had spent his career covering the region.
A couple hundred thousand dead Iraqis who died for a "elective" social experiment even more revolting than "collateral damage" inflicted by an incompetent, undermanned, casualty averse US Military trying to accomplish some vague, every shifting "mission." In short, what a raging, pompous, self-justifying, cowardly, intellectual asshole!”
So, I guess a lot of people still can't forgive him for advocating the Iraq war for mental health reasons, because he "felt it in his gut" that it was the right thing to do. Besides America had to strike out against SOMEbody after 9/11. It is just about the most irresponsible thing any columnist could ever perhaps say or write.
Okay, taking a few minutes to let our focus shift back to TLF - Thomas Friedman was born in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. He attended the St. Louis Park High School, where he wrote articles for his school's newspaper, where he also managed to interview Ariel Sharon, an Israeli general who later on went to become the Prime Minister of Israel. TLF graduated in 1971. He later on when to attend the St Antony's College at the University of Oxford on a Marshall scholarship, earning an M.Phil. in Middle Eastern studies.
And that is not all; this "green revolutionary" is married to the heiress to a shopping center fortune and lives in an 11,000 square foot house in Maryland, valued at over $10 million. Friedman's wife, Ann, a graduate of Stanford University is the daughter of Matthew Bucksbaum, the chairman of the board of General Growth Properties, a real estate development group. The Bucksbaums helped pioneer the development of shopping centers in the United States and as of 2007, Forbes estimated the Bucksbaum family's assets at $4.1 billion that included about 18.6 million square meters of mall space
Phew! TLF is surely set… Am waiting to see when he comes out with a Foundation, that supports his books views - will surely give back his LOST credibility
So let’s get back to TLFs new book - Hot, Flat, and Crowded
Friedman as always is in search of a new bandwagon to pump out yet another book. This wagon is already full, full of people who are seriously concerned about our planet earth but he would like to take the reins and drive this buggy to the gates of hell, or at least to where the cash is stashed away. There isn't a good cause that can't be milked.
Now he is writing about a Green Revolution. Even though Al Gore did not invent the internet, he sure is at the forefront of the Green Revolution. Why do we need Thomas Friedman's thinking on the subject? Is he trying to redeem himself?
Jimmy Carter was right about this issue during his administration. Al Gore has been right about this issue for years. John Kerry was right about this issue, and his call for an Apollo program for green energy, back in the 2004 campaign.
Personally, I believe the engine of this whole change is the market and all of the major investment banks have large positions in fossil fuels - in fact, Forbes recently claimed that if those banks were forced to liquidate their positions in fossil fuels, prices would drop to as low as $50-$75 a barrel - and that's what the current bailout is intended to avoid. Goldman Sachs also has huge holdings in fossil fuels, and the recent $5 billion Buffet injection should be viewed in the light of Buffet's extensive energy investments - PetroChina, ConocoPhillips, and Mid-American and Constellation Energy.
In other words, if only energy could be harnessed to take the place of oil . . . guess that is what TLF is trying to get across?
Or speaking as an Indian - The US can just get used to the Third World conditions - In other words the IMF proposes an austerity package for the U.S. as a precondition on a World Bank loan rescue package. Their first demand is that we privatize Social Security and halt all funding for public education. How is that for change?
That said, I used to work in a financial company that got influenced by the 'green committee' - trying to change the way we do business in an environmentally intelligent way. Infact the people involved who are mostly middle class people have basically no urgency or real understanding of what the hell is going on. They treat it like an irritating fad, and easily take 'no' as an answer when trying to change the way the company operates, or more so as they operate.
Unfortunately, most people still do not read or understand and to top it all do not care about science. Rationalism is apparently not their philosophy. In such a situation, how does one visualize environmentalism? Until they have intimate, personal experiences with global climate change - in other words they are scared, vis-à-vis Katrina, it is very unlikely they would do anything
Now, let me get to the bottom of this, I was supposed to keep this under a page and it appears that I have run into over 2 pages now.
As the apparent "God of Globalization," Friedman understands only too well how interconnected we have become. In other words, the pollution in India's Ganges River could have a direct impact on the quality of life in New York. Every coal factory that China builds, competes for resources with an Indonesian child. And to top it all, every time a woman in Southern California switched on her air conditioner, its effect travels to the Brazilian slums.
In short there is no way we can regulate our way out of this problem, but only innovate. This in turn requires legislation and rules.
But are we prepared for that ?
Bottom-line - He definitely is not the mystical seer, second only to that prophetic magician of the middle ages, the amazing Nostril-Dumb-ass.
Amen
Who is Thomas Friedman and what do you know of him?
Well he is a New York Times columnist and Pulitzer Prize winning writer Friedman who has written a couple of books that include, The Lexus and the Olive Tree which came out in 1999 and introduced thousands to the notion of globalization. So, when the book, The World Is Flat came out nearly everybody was reading it. So his new book Hot, Flat, and Crowded may make it official, for many, that ecology-mindedness is the character of our times.
Anyway, the fact of the matter is that I have NOT got down to reading Thomas Friedman’s new book…where he apparently suggests the industries and fields in which we should be investing. Now I have trouble with anyone telling me where people should be investing, but if the reviews in New York Times, Washington Post and the Salon are to be believed, I am fairly sure I will be buying the book.
"The shortest way I can explain it is that 'hot' stands for the increase in global warming, 'flat' is my metaphor for the rise of middle classes all over the world, from India to China to Brazil to Russia, who are now able to consume and produce like Americans, and 'crowded' is the fact that the population of the planet in my lifetime ...has almost tripled."
Friedman it appears offers a thought- provoking, accessible look at the impact of wealth transfer from energy consuming to energy producing nations, failed policies, environmentalism, conservation, greenness, and redefining a vision for America, that “MAY” leave the reader asking questions and demanding solutions. Although some of the ideas presented aren’t new, this book to me appears worth the reader’s time.
Alright so much for the books - but who is Thomas Friedman?
Thomas Lauren Friedman was born on 20th July, 1953. He is an American journalist, neo-liberal columnist and author. Tell me something new!
He apparently is also a contributor to The New York Times and whose column appears twice weekly and mainly addresses topics relating to foreign affairs. TLF [easier calling him that as Thomas Lauren Friedman is a mouthful] is known for supporting a compromise resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and ofcourse the modernization of the Arab world, then environmentalism and now globalization.
However, he has lost a lot of his supporters because of his vehement and open supporter of the invasion of Iraq. He later on became an outspoken critic of the war and the Bush administration which upset his credibility
To quote a few of the comments seen in the net don’t speak much about the publics view about him, thanks to his support of the war - “I used to worship Thomas Friedman until he vocally, vehemently pushed the War in Iraq in line with a social experiment, certain that it would promote democracy in the Middle East. I was so disappointed in his nearsightedness, especially because he had spent his career covering the region.
A couple hundred thousand dead Iraqis who died for a "elective" social experiment even more revolting than "collateral damage" inflicted by an incompetent, undermanned, casualty averse US Military trying to accomplish some vague, every shifting "mission." In short, what a raging, pompous, self-justifying, cowardly, intellectual asshole!”
So, I guess a lot of people still can't forgive him for advocating the Iraq war for mental health reasons, because he "felt it in his gut" that it was the right thing to do. Besides America had to strike out against SOMEbody after 9/11. It is just about the most irresponsible thing any columnist could ever perhaps say or write.
Okay, taking a few minutes to let our focus shift back to TLF - Thomas Friedman was born in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. He attended the St. Louis Park High School, where he wrote articles for his school's newspaper, where he also managed to interview Ariel Sharon, an Israeli general who later on went to become the Prime Minister of Israel. TLF graduated in 1971. He later on when to attend the St Antony's College at the University of Oxford on a Marshall scholarship, earning an M.Phil. in Middle Eastern studies.
And that is not all; this "green revolutionary" is married to the heiress to a shopping center fortune and lives in an 11,000 square foot house in Maryland, valued at over $10 million. Friedman's wife, Ann, a graduate of Stanford University is the daughter of Matthew Bucksbaum, the chairman of the board of General Growth Properties, a real estate development group. The Bucksbaums helped pioneer the development of shopping centers in the United States and as of 2007, Forbes estimated the Bucksbaum family's assets at $4.1 billion that included about 18.6 million square meters of mall space
Phew! TLF is surely set… Am waiting to see when he comes out with a Foundation, that supports his books views - will surely give back his LOST credibility
So let’s get back to TLFs new book - Hot, Flat, and Crowded
Friedman as always is in search of a new bandwagon to pump out yet another book. This wagon is already full, full of people who are seriously concerned about our planet earth but he would like to take the reins and drive this buggy to the gates of hell, or at least to where the cash is stashed away. There isn't a good cause that can't be milked.
Now he is writing about a Green Revolution. Even though Al Gore did not invent the internet, he sure is at the forefront of the Green Revolution. Why do we need Thomas Friedman's thinking on the subject? Is he trying to redeem himself?
Jimmy Carter was right about this issue during his administration. Al Gore has been right about this issue for years. John Kerry was right about this issue, and his call for an Apollo program for green energy, back in the 2004 campaign.
Personally, I believe the engine of this whole change is the market and all of the major investment banks have large positions in fossil fuels - in fact, Forbes recently claimed that if those banks were forced to liquidate their positions in fossil fuels, prices would drop to as low as $50-$75 a barrel - and that's what the current bailout is intended to avoid. Goldman Sachs also has huge holdings in fossil fuels, and the recent $5 billion Buffet injection should be viewed in the light of Buffet's extensive energy investments - PetroChina, ConocoPhillips, and Mid-American and Constellation Energy.
In other words, if only energy could be harnessed to take the place of oil . . . guess that is what TLF is trying to get across?
Or speaking as an Indian - The US can just get used to the Third World conditions - In other words the IMF proposes an austerity package for the U.S. as a precondition on a World Bank loan rescue package. Their first demand is that we privatize Social Security and halt all funding for public education. How is that for change?
That said, I used to work in a financial company that got influenced by the 'green committee' - trying to change the way we do business in an environmentally intelligent way. Infact the people involved who are mostly middle class people have basically no urgency or real understanding of what the hell is going on. They treat it like an irritating fad, and easily take 'no' as an answer when trying to change the way the company operates, or more so as they operate.
Unfortunately, most people still do not read or understand and to top it all do not care about science. Rationalism is apparently not their philosophy. In such a situation, how does one visualize environmentalism? Until they have intimate, personal experiences with global climate change - in other words they are scared, vis-à-vis Katrina, it is very unlikely they would do anything
Now, let me get to the bottom of this, I was supposed to keep this under a page and it appears that I have run into over 2 pages now.
As the apparent "God of Globalization," Friedman understands only too well how interconnected we have become. In other words, the pollution in India's Ganges River could have a direct impact on the quality of life in New York. Every coal factory that China builds, competes for resources with an Indonesian child. And to top it all, every time a woman in Southern California switched on her air conditioner, its effect travels to the Brazilian slums.
In short there is no way we can regulate our way out of this problem, but only innovate. This in turn requires legislation and rules.
But are we prepared for that ?
Bottom-line - He definitely is not the mystical seer, second only to that prophetic magician of the middle ages, the amazing Nostril-Dumb-ass.
Amen
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