Thomas Friedman

Friday night, Fred and I had the pleasure of going to an event at the Core Club and listen to Tom Friedman speak about his new book,  Hot, Flat and Crowded. 

Regardless if you love or hate Friedman's editorials and political views, the guy is a genius.  His mind is impressive.  Hearing him speak freely about where our country sits today was fantastic. 

He spoke about how our country has lost its groove and we need to get it back.  He believes wholeheartedly that through ET (energy technology) we can build America's foundation again.  We lost our way after 9/11.  That was a bigger impact that anyone realizes.  America succumbed to terrorists by living in a nation of fear for the past 8 years.  Friedman also brought up the concept of his last book that the world is flat.  He believes that it is flatter than even he realized.  After all, he said, who would have thought that Iceland was a hedge fund? 

The one piece that really stayed with me, even though I knew already, but he has a way like most brilliant minds, of defining the obvious in such simplistic terms that anyone can understand the most layered concepts easily.  Everything is tied to our need for oil.  Wars, economies, relationships with foreign countries, etc.  We need to become a country that is self reliant on our own abilities to create energy.  That will fundamentally shift everything.  That is why ET is so important.  It will create new jobs, new industry and self-reliance.  How are we going to get there?

Friedman believes that the end of the Soviet Union happened not because of Ronald Reagan but because of oil hitting an all time high and plummeting so quickly that the country had not choice but to change.  Again, everything is linked to energy.

Friedman's column today which he spoke about on Friday night is called "show me the money".  We need to work with China, Russia, India, Latin America etc., to help stabilize the world and help us help them by creating an exit strategy in Iraq.  We are all linked and this will be a positive change for the world. 

I could go on and on but I plan on reading Friedman's new book.  Honestly, the guy is just brilliant.