Not too long ago, I received an email from a friend directing me towards a review of Friedman’s book, Hot, Flat and Crowded, published in 2008. Four years on, and the review still gets folks laughing out loud regardless of where they are (and hitting the reply button as fast as they can to spew their views), and wondering to themselves why they buy into his bs. I buy into it because it’s easy to read, has catchy titles that tell you nothing at all about the content of the article (for example, “Syria is Iraq” — !?!?!?!), and because his horrendous sweeping statements about entire continents (like the one below) really gets my blood pumping (and an email chain going):
Every morning in Hanoi I walk around the pagodas on Hoan Kiem Lake, and every morning I stop by this little Vietnamese woman crouched on the sidewalk with her bathroom scale, and every morning I give her a dollar and weigh myself. That woman and her scale, probably her only possession in life, pretty well sum up Asia today
No, you A-hole, that does not in any way, shape, or form sum up Asia today or at any point in history… Beyond that, I do think some of what Friedman writes about has merit – even if he is one of the age’s most vocal arm chair critics, but this post is not about that.
This post is about the fact that years after I’m out of college, I still have a pool of friends who I can connect with about things outside of work, love (or in some cases, a turbulent unsatisfying relationship), and the growing pains of trying to be an adult (mortgage so expensive, my folks are threatening to set me up with so-and-so, what the sh*t happened to my credit card bill this month, the going rate of angpows for weddings these days…)
In other words, a group of people that give a sh*t about sh*t — and I don’t mean whose on top of the EPL or the latest bag released by Celine (if you said “Trapeze”! Minus points for you, that’s SO last season). These people are likely to find the term “LOL” to be exceedingly annoying. Chances are, at some point of time in my relationship with these folks, we’re likely to have had a very deep dialogue about <insert topic of global importance here>, which others might call an “intense conversation,” “raging debate,” or “full blown argument.”
These people read (stuff beyond what’s on the best sellers list) and then they share, and because they do they keep me refreshed with their thoughts about the world at large, and sometimes very little local issues that matter. What I’m trying to say is that these people, they make me think.
To these wonderful people, please know that you have my love and respect. Because much like a Zombie, I like you for your brains :)
Happy Friday folks! Friedman fried on a pan article here.
It’s worth a read, and if you think it’s as funny as I did, hit the reply button and let me know ;)
Thanks for this, awesome article! I think I bailed out halfway on this book.
And with regards to your comment on friends who make you think and talk “deep”, i get what you mean! those are a precious few. LOL. :P
I’m a fan of Matt Taibbi though – have you read his Rolling Stones’ story on the Bubble Machine? (:
You’re most welcome :) I enjoyed it thoroughly – it was too good not to share. I’m googling the bubble machine now.
Friedman did come out with a superb op-ed on Sunday though, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/opinion/sunday/friedman-the-launching-pad.html – I actually felt, launching pad wise, he could have been talking about Singapore.
“We need everyone starting something! Therefore, we should aspire to be the world’s best launching pad because our work force is so productive; our markets the freest and most trusted; our infrastructure and Internet bandwidth the most advanced; our openness to foreign talent second to none; our funding for basic research the most generous; our rule of law, patent protection and investment-friendly tax code the envy of the world; our education system unrivaled; our currency and interest rates the most stable; our environment the most pristine; our health care system the most efficient; and our energy supplies the most secure, clean and cost-effective.”
Singapore no need to aspire. We have those conditions in place already. People just need a kick in their asses. Come from where?
Anyway I also enjoyed the article for its perspective on Obama having to update his place in America’s new old narrative and tell a better story.
In Singapore, the problem isn’t the launching pad — it’s the product. We’ve spent years and years investing in people so that they can keep the system running, but what was the point? We all want to grow up to be bankers, lawyers, consultants, accountants — all functions which wouldn’t exist without the businesses to, well, give them business.
And no one wants to take the risk and be the business.
Speaking of Obama — can you please read this write up on the woman behind the Obama brand? Genius! I want to grow up to be Desiree Rogers
http://magazine.wsj.com/features/the-big-interview/desiree-rogers/
In other news! Pigs can fly – though I’m fairly certain you’d have received this one from old classmates: http://thotspeak.blogspot.sg/2012/07/speech-by-bilahari-kausikan.html