In his latest bit of inanity, Thomas Friedman says that American workers, in the future, will all have to add "extra" to their jobs to avoid being replaced by foreigners.
So, you first, Teapot Tommy. I'd love to have your job outsourced.
Beyond that, Teapot Tommy claims that, as more and more Boomers get older and need health care assistance, Americans will have to add "extra" to these jobs.
Really? Pandahugger Tommy, China's going to have an even steeper age curve than us quite soon. None of them are coming over here for that reason; there will be plenty of elderly Chinese. (Besides, although illegal immigration does come from overseas, amending legal immigration statues would set off a Congressional firestorm.) Oh, and they're not likely coming from Mexico; its birthrate isn't much higher than ours.
The rest of the column has mixtures of the same vapidness and triteness.
A skeptical leftist's, or post-capitalist's, or eco-socialist's blog, including skepticism about leftism (and related things under other labels), but even more about other issues of politics. Free of duopoly and minor party ties. Also, a skeptical look at Gnu Atheism, religion, social sciences, more.
Note: Labels can help describe people but should never be used to pin them to an anthill.
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Friedman is well respected and you are making fun of him. His notion that waiters should become artisans, in order to insure a good income and solid retirement, is excellent advice.
ReplyDeleteAnd what about this?
"good jobs at scale come only when we create more products and services that make people’s lives more healthy, more productive, more secure, more comfortable or more entertained — and then sell them to more people around the world"
We've never tried that before. It's simple and elegant. Thank goodness Friedman has opened our eyes to the solution!
OK, you second, Quiddity.
ReplyDeleteAnd, Teapot Tommy is well-respected by whom? People who want neoliberal mush even mushier than from Preznit Kumbaya?
I was joking. I think Friedman is one of the worst columnists out there. Sunday's essay was jejune. The solution to our problems is to "create more products ... and sell them". Really, what can to say to that? Why the New York Times publishes this guy is something I'll never understand.
ReplyDeleteSorry I missed the sarcasm angle. Someone else posted a comment to another post of mine, a couple of weeks ago, about another Friedman column and was apparently serious.
ReplyDeleteAnd, yes, it's incredible how some people can become nationally syndicated columnists.
Yeah, amazingly there are some Tom Friedman admirers out there. His essay this Sunday was so full of platitudes, it's like "How does this guy manage to get paid for this?". Anyway, I like your blog and got there from a Google Blogs search on Tom Friedman. You were the first to call him out on his essay.
ReplyDeleteRe my first comment. I've pretty much given up on making serious critiques of people like Friedman. So I take the satirical view and praise him to the skies for his genius. The time for rational argumentation is over. As I see it, people in this country (USA) will only change their views from rough experience since the media is so full of nonsense and noise.