Thomas Friedman

It's Christmas. The season of giving.

Thomas Friedman is giving me heartburn.

These days it seems like half of Friedman's columns are about how much better China is than America. His latest column is more of the same. He doesn't really talk about all the slave labor the Chinese use to power their economy, nor the pollution problems. As for the underdeveloped countryside? Well it sometimes seems like Friedman doesn't actually know that China has non-urban areas. It also seems like Friedman doesn't understand the concept of a Communist government that spends disproportionate resources on polishing and cleaning up areas where foreigners (and especially foreign journalists) are likely to go in order to present an attractive and appealing image.

He's not wrong that America needs to invest in infrastructure and science, nor in claiming that Kennedy Airport could use some serious refurbishing, but it really seems like Friedman doesn't understand that some of the shabbiness of America is the price of freedom (China doesn't have any limitations on eminent domain usage, for example, which is one of the things that prevents America from redeveloping as easily) and part of it is the price of being an early adopter. It's much cheaper and easier to be a little behind the curve.

It's frustrating, because America is arrogant and has made a lot of mistakes, but Friedman seems to be a utopianist who doesn't understand that sometimes you have to compromise to do the right thing. If dirty train platforms are the price of not arresting people for littering then I am willing to pay that price. Friedman is not. Friedman notes that China has censored the New York Times and other news sites as if it is a phenomenon completely distinct from the gleaming bullet trains and perfect Wi-Fi access. It isn't. The two are tightly related.

It's not just that Thomas Friedman can't see the forest for the trees, it's that he doesn't seem to know that there are forests or trees.