Spring Break
Friedman expresses energy concerns
by Michelle Liberman
News | 10/21/08
Posted online at 4:19 AM EST on 10/21/08
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Friedman showed the audience a picture of a billboard he had seen in South Africa for a car, which presented the slogan "German Engineering, Swiss Innovation, American Nothing." He went on to explain that we've "lost our groove" as Americans because since Sept. 11, the U.S. has been "exporting fear and not hope." He also said that the U.S. has lost its competitor with the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, and the political elite have adopted a "dumb as we wanna be" mood, which Friedman explains in his new book.
He writes that this mood "says we can indulge in petty red state-blue state catfights for as long as we want and can postpone shoring up our health care system and our crumbling infrastructure, postpone addressing immigration reform, postpone fixing Social Security and Medicare and dealing comprehensively without energy excesses and insecurity indefinitely." Friedman implies that this mood represents the differences between political parties in government, which have prevented the government from being productive. Friedman explained
Friedman said that since Sept. 11 Americans have been caught up in being the"United States of Fighting Terrorism." He said the country needs to move on and start addressing pressing environmental issues we face.
Friedman focused on the need to start a green revolution in the world because merging global warming, globalization and the rapidly increasing population will have serious repercussions in the near future. These repercussions include a decrease in energy supplies, an increase in the extinction of plants and animals and the acceleration of climate change. According to Friedman, energy technology is the next global industry, and Friedman wants the U.S. to be the leader in the pursuit of energy technology because the leader in energy technology will be the source of national power in the world. He said, green should be "the new red, white and blue" for the U.S.
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David Zukerman '62
posted 10/21/08 @ 1:40 PM EST
And prior to 1492, wasn't there concern that if you went to far west on the ocean, your ship would fall off this flat planet?
I recall a movie about a Scandinavian village town that required its inhabitants to speak quietly lest a loud noise set off a snow avalance that would bury the village. (Continued…)
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