"Our response to Sputnik made us better educated, more productive, more technologically advanced and more ingenious," said the Johns Hopkins foreign policy expert Michael Mandelbaum. "Our investments in science and education spread throughout American society, producing the Internet, more students studying math and people genuinely wanting to build the nation."
This country has always needed a sudden fear factor before it comes together to fight and move in a uniform direction. Our last being 9/11, which we have responded with an invasion of Iraq and slowly into boarding countries half-way across the world. Friedman uses the analogy of the Russian's Sputnik space program in the 1950's/60's, which lead to the US rush to math and science books. Also, the attack on Pearl Harbor was the wake-up call that finally sent us into WWII.
Currently, we Americans have yet to experience something of this magnitude firsthand. We float along commenting on the world issues that "potentially" pose a threat to our nation, but have yet to made a sudden impact of our daily lives. One could argue Katrina is the impact of climate change, but we all know there is little environmental data to support an argument either way. It was just a hurricane that hit the wrong place at the wrong time. I personally see climate change as a big issue, and even if its threat is only 40% realistic, that should be enough for this country to lead the world in the green-energy direction. If the scientists are wrong about it, then shit, what are we left with? Less pollution, more coral reefs, silent cars, and sweet ass houses that have 1/3 the energy bill of older homes. How is that going to have a negative effect on the country?!? We love to buy anything and everything new and hip, so lets just make the new and hip stuff good for the earth.
Global warming and climate change issues aren't going to cut it. These temperate gradual changes aren't seen first-hand in the daily lives of us Americans. What Mother Earth really needs to do is drop one big super-storm consisting of snow, sleet, rain, snowballs, cats, dogs, transformers, Tiger Woods, and high-trans fats before we significantly respond in any way to climate change.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that we need a blatant impact. A transformer snowstorm. A $12/gallon gas price. A heating bill that's through the roof. An East Coast summer of entirely polluted beach fronts. A Chinese invasion of athletes, celebrities, and culture. A Japanese automaker sweep of all auto markets. SOMETHING that will wake this country up from the celebrity-gossip-induced internet-youtube-video-sucking sports-obsession consumer-spending country we presently live in.
In closing, Go SOX!
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