Tag Archive for 'China'

Adam Gilad and Thomas Friedman On The Same Page

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on March 8, 2009
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By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

Sometimes the satirical newspaper The Onion is so right on, I cant resist quoting from it. Consider this faux article from June 2005 about Americas addiction to Chinese exports:

Chen Hsien, an employee of Fenghua Ningbo Plastic Works Ltd., a plastics factory that manufactures lightweight household items for Western markets, expressed his disbelief Monday over the sheer amount of [garbage] Americans will buy. Often, when were assigned a new order for, say, salad shooters, I will say to myself, Theres no way that anyone will ever buy these. … Continue reading ‘Adam Gilad and Thomas Friedman On The Same Page’

A Global Crisis is a Terrible Thing to Waste

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on March 5, 2009
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My father - an extreme moderate - used to always remind me when things got bad that NOTHING compared to 1942. He said it looked like Hitler was going to take over the world. The “greatest generation” hadn’t yet been born into mythology, the American Collossus hadn’t made landfall in Europe, The Eastern Front hadn’t turned — and all looked bleak.

Today - yes, we have uncertainty. The Citibanks have collapsed. People’s savings have been devastated. Washington is trying to revive an obviously failed system. Republicans - AMAZINGLY - are touting deregulation as a virtue. Let me remind them of a 2nd Century Mishna passage that says more or less that you need a strong government, or people “will run wild like wolves.

Despite the confusion and uncertainty — we have food — although sprayed with toxicity (also amazingly, a commonly accepted reality!). We have iPhones. We have incredible abundance all around. So it ain’t 1933.

And it ain’t 1942.

But it is a time to SERIOUSLY rethink how we… Continue reading ‘A Global Crisis is a Terrible Thing to Waste’