Listen to Uncle Tom

This one is important. Read the comments too: a lot of readers understand that while Friedman is addressing the world-trade dominated economic structure as one of the roots of our unsustainable growth pattern, he has not scratched the surface of changes needed in our cultures, values and family sizes.   Friedman talks as if the solutions will still some how be found within the institutional and cultural frameworks we now take for granted.  He may become like Gore, one of the establishment's pet casandras.

So its good that a name brand opiner gets at least some of the problem's dimensions and uses his reach to put out the word.  But who is listening?  It can seem that virtually no one in this nation will put down his cheeseburger long enough or stop conniving for a bigger house soon enough to even think there IS a problem.  

I have been on this theme since I started this blog, and others more learned and foresightful, have been warning us far longer that our nation and all nations that aspire to consume as we do are headed straight over an ecological cliff.  And as we go, we pull the climate and the economy under with us.

I have my own solutions but such talk is likely to make me few friends in the land that could not see through Cheney nor find Bush ideas about energy and pollution self destructive.