Charlie Rose

doodah  09/15/2011 08:53 AM Report

... a nice balance of commercialism and PBS (now if we could just get PBS to drop all that 'British Crap' that dominates the station these days, America would be alot better off) here here

doodah  09/15/2011 08:47 AM Report

The Amish and 'Tony the Tiger' made America GREAT! .and still do today

tbo88  09/14/2011 11:15 PM Report

I read all of the responses and some of them I certainly can agree with, especially that Tom Friedman is a silly boob and he lives in a dreamworld, but the reason why they put the book was missed by practically all of you. The point being that these 2 guys do have a good understanding of what it is that can really make America be great again and not just all of us living by the successes of the past but also by what we need to envision for the future. They have tried to take a step back, which we all should do and visualize what got us to where we are now and what really made America successful, today and in the future. It isn't the same political vitriol that we see day in and day out, but who is willing to step up and lead us now and into the future. They are right to say that it does take us as Americans not to wait on Washington to start the process now and not wait for a change in 2012. Taking the step back will allow all of us to realize what to start the next foundation on and not worry about the messenger like Friedman who most of us dislike. We are all smarter than that and it is important to figure out how to make a difference to improve where we are today and tomorrow.

winter  09/12/2011 11:08 AM Report

"Oh, by the way, have you seen what it says in my latest book". sheez Friedman, why don't you just wear a button that way the ad will never leave our sights. I guess

they do it on the left too at least from the left it has a less rancorous stench.

doodah  09/11/2011 08:28 AM Report

... "But make no mistake, Tomorrow, it's back to dog eat dog."

doodah  09/11/2011 08:26 AM Report

... "'Love' being that preEminent gold standard" - and so it is written. On Sunday morning September 11, 2011.

doodah  09/11/2011 08:20 AM Report

... "maybe our troubles stem from the ingrained intangible gold standard naturally instilled via human nature in our fractional reserve monetarism currency" - doodah

Cool! Yeah! Now where's my million dollars?

doodah  09/11/2011 08:12 AM Report

Just goes to show you, Sharkster, America 'used' to be a place where a man can be an idiot and STILL make alot of money.

SharkswithfrikingLazers  09/11/2011 03:01 AM Report

Is Tom Friedman after the Tom Peters slot?

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/01_49/b3760040.htm

Is it that mortgage Mr. Friedman? http://louminatti.blogspot.com/2009/07/thomas-friedman-estate.html

I was hoping for The Green Revolution.

"ONLY if we got abundant, cheap, clean reliable electrons could we deal with climate change, petro-dictatorship, biodiversity loss, energy poverty, and energy resource supply and demand. That is the cure."

"A smart grid that goes into a smart home that's connected to a smart car, basically, where all your devices are on the internet and can day-trade electrons for you."

"We don't need a Manhattan Project....What we need is 100,000 Dean Kamens [Segway inventor] in 100,000 garages trying 100,000 things, so maybe ten of them will come up with that holy grail of abundant, cheap, clean reliable electrons."

ChongSunWah  09/10/2011 04:34 AM Report

Why the American people lacks behind others when all along you are at the top and the envy of the world? How are you going to fix America or get America to the top again? Just writing the book “Use To Be Us” to save America is not the answer but just a soft wake up call. What is more important the American people must not be in constant denial and arrogant living in false pretence? The credit cards dilemma is one good example and you know there are many more.

American people must wake up and I mean wake up quickly if not America will fall behind because other countries are catching up and very fast in so many areas. The vast majority of the population in America still have the mentality of the 60’s that America is the world especially for those who has not travel overseas. But in the 21st century it is a different story altogether. Sept 11 should change American people thinking how great America is. If America is so great why the terrorists could bring America to its knee just with penknives? Instead of thinking wisely but out of false pride and impulsiveness the Bush’s government went out for more blood and this was the destruction of America. The terrorists destroy America from the outside (the destruction of the twin tower) but George Bush had destroy America from the inside weaken it foundation by spending money on 2 wars not paid for and now your foundation is standing on shaky ground. By going after the terrorists the American government had fallen into their trap. At the end of the story in the war on terror the terrorists had won and the greatest loser is the American people because you are suffering now financially.

Besides the book Micheal Mandelbaum and Tom Friedman must rally the parents to get their children to have a correct attitude of life. In Singapore we have a LEE KUAN YEW who constantly drums in our ears to catch up if not Malaysia will be on top of us. Most of us do not like to hear it but we still hear it constantly like a wake-up call. (Maybe that is one of the reason the people are not happy with him. Poor Lee Kuan Yew all he did was for the good of the people but the people take it in the wrong light. He got to push the people to work hard because Singapore has no choice especially when we do not have any natural resources. Our only resource is the human brain and Lee Kuan Yew makes sure we are aware of it. President Obama can’t do what Lee Kuan Yew had done because that will be the end of Obama’s Presidency.)

Besides the stupidity of the last Republicans government how can America be great when you have about 70M of your population obese? No matter how great a President you have it will not work this time round because the success of the country depend on the people, so to compare Roosevelt time is not correct because during his time you still have people who are motivated to excel. Now your people wait for tax cut and more tax cut and is this way to build a great country? Was your past success depending on tax cut or investment on the people education?

The President can only create the condition for the people to excel and now he is doing so and I really hope all Americans will support President Obama for the sake of a greater America which is good for the world too. Everyone in the world want America to succeed the only people who can bring America down is the American people and especially the Republicans whose mission is to destroy President Obama.

charlizecourriers  09/09/2011 02:45 PM Report

Rose had too much alcohol for this interview to be an interview. The usual gibberish but at least we now know where many of the academic mediocre ideas come from.

thomasn  09/09/2011 01:06 PM Report

It's funny how many people did not watch the interview and leave off base post. Within the first two minutes Michael and Tom stated that the U.S. didn't need to model itself after any country, but get back to the things we did best in the past.

mabraham  09/09/2011 09:56 AM Report

It took Friedman less than two minutes to lose me.I just can't stand his snake-oil salesman rhetoric.

Besides, I would rather look towards Germany than China when it comes to industrial and education policies. Per capita they are ahead of us and WAY ahead of China and India. And they are a democracy.

doodah  09/09/2011 08:41 AM Report

You fellers talking about 'Bureaucracies'.?. Just get a load of this - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/topsecretamerica/

They're talking about buildings 4 stories high on the outside, but go down 10 stories below grade. A Bureaucrat's Dream Come True. We're not talking about one building with one Wizard of Oz, but multiple buildings with 10s of thousands Wizard of Ozs and Darth Vaders; and what do they do when they get bored? They suck the life blood out of the munchkins. This Bureaucracy is the cancer that Osama INTENDED to plant in the heart and mind of America so it can start eating itself from the inside out. Good job Republicans , that's alot to be proud of Teat Party , Go with it Democrats!

Not to mention, the unmentionable 'Budget'. What about that Teat Party?!

shan7156  09/09/2011 02:54 AM Report

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ShalomFreedman  09/09/2011 02:27 AM Report

An opening minor point.Charlie Rose is lost in his own misconceptions. The 'Arab Spring' he keeps referring to as if it were the Second American Revolution is in fact a party for the Muslim Brotherhood. It presages not a new democratic order but a different kind of authoritarian chaos extending over the next twenty or thirty years at least.

More importantly, the major message of the quite annoying Friedman- Mandelbaum team is correct. America is in a deep crisis , and it needs to fight its way out of it. Sacrifice, ,Innovation, strong will to work and create new products are all parts of the answer. The problem Friedman and Mandelbaum do not address is that America which always been a young country has become or is going to become a baby- boomer old country. The greying of the world is at work in America also. And it is ordinary not those over sixty who invent the wheel even if their lives have been extended to one- hundred. Nonetheless the two smug sages have , I believe, a largely correct message. Deficit and debt, infrastructure decline, energy dependence all must be addressed. Sacrifice and Will to serve not only oneself but the country as a whole are in order. The country needs leaders that can speak a tough message and inspire renewed hope.

Will this happen as these two say it has repeatedly happened in the American past.

I pray it will, and this because all the alternatives to the U.S. as world leader will simply lead mankind into a new Dark Ages.

The U.S. needs to save itself in order to help save the world.

SharkswithfrikingLazers  09/09/2011 02:19 AM Report

They say they wrote a chapter on how we need a third party.

This idea is appealing:

Americans Elect: http://www.americanselect.org/

What is Americans Elect?

Americans Elect is the first direct nomination.

They're using the Internet to give every single voter—Democrat, Republican or independent—the power to nominate a presidential ticket in 2012.

You decide the issues.

You choose the candidates.

And in a secure, online convention next June, you will make history by putting the Americans Elect ticket on the ballot in every state.

SharkswithfrikingLazers  09/09/2011 02:15 AM Report

"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little."

o Second Inaugural Address (20 January 1937) FDR

brucek  09/08/2011 05:34 PM Report

I am so sick of Freidman and his worship of China. Always examples from China. Why don't you emphasize IT IS A DICTATORSHIP. Takes peoples property, assigns children to careers. Plows over rural land. You are too biased towards him as a host.

And Steve Jobs - brilliant, best businessman of the last 100 years, but he too is A DICTATOR. He does not need anyone's permission to make any product. Imagine if he had to get the votes of his buyers, or even employees?

Come on Charlie, you are bette than this. Challenge your guests.

john_q_public  09/08/2011 04:17 PM Report

These authors outline their ideas for success and they insist they are optimistic but they do not say what the probability is that the American public will follow their plan (and from reason, Charlie failed to ask).

I think they are unrealistic if they think this book is going to change anything.

robdverity  09/08/2011 03:28 PM Report

tabs - agree 1945 was historical, but freer of bad decisions a la your last sentence: "In other words if one makes a series of bad decisions not only will your options be limited or narrowed but the conventional wisdom of the day will likely dictate that you continue to make bad decisions."

2004/8 was more impactful on our current mess. W's era decisions (from Iraq, to tax cuts, to deregs, to subprimes, to TARP too big to fail - followed thru by O) did more to ruin our system than any of our pre-Vietnam wars.

tabs  09/08/2011 02:31 PM Report

One Mr Friedman also talks about decisions and policies being determined by the incremental nature of of how problems evolve. Well Mr Friedman isn't that because the policy and decision makers are preoccupied with day to day events and or their own interests or agendas? In other words they don't pay attention to the "ARC OF HISTORY" or put another way the LONG VIEW OF HISTORY. This issue was discussed by DR K and MS Clinton on 4/20/11. Anyone can pick up an idea but it is another thing to understand the how and why it works.For that one has to go to the source.

An E-mail to Mr Rose on 3/17/11. Which was the latest in a series of expositions of the idea.

Blowing Up The Box

Thu, 03/17/2011 - 13:06 — tabs

Now we will briefly turn to the Arc of History. One should really think in terms that the fall of 2008 was an inflection point, and being the end of an era of American hegemony. Everything that has happened since that date has been a transition to the beginning of a new era. In any transition period there is chaos as new forces try to fill in power vacuums. A true Black Swan event was the earthquake in Japan and the ramifications thereof. It is quite mind boggling that the best and brightest don't see this. This myopia can be laid at the feet that the leadership is so consumed with day to day events that they lose sight of or fail to look at the long view of history.

Perhaps history could be viewed as a mighty river flowing to the sea. Events up stream have determined and or limit current thinking and decision making. What one can not know is what sand bar bar or turn the river is going to take next. But what can be seen is where the momentum and course of events past and present is directing us in. If one can view this as a process one can see that the course the US is on is not a very bright one.

One should look to the last great inflection point or turning point in history which was 1945 and the beginning of the era of American hegemony in the world. From there one should look at how one event was layered upon another event to see how we have arrived at the current state of affairs. Then one can answer the question of which direction the momentum of history is pushing us. In other words if one makes a series of bad decisions not only will your options be limited or narrowed but the conventional wisdom of the day will likely dictate that you continue to make bad decisions.

.

SharkswithfrikingLazers  09/08/2011 01:48 PM Report

By the way, Burger King did attack McDonalds about flame broiled burgers being better than fried (1982) and also about burger size and NO it did not kill a category because hamburgers are the God of the feed bag.

So Thomas you can attack those in your category and survive/thrive.

http://www.answers.com/topic/burger-king

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2009-08-23/business/0908220020_1_burger-king-cheeseburger-big-mac

SharkswithfrikingLazers  09/08/2011 01:33 PM Report

Hey Charlie, it is Deja Vu all over again and I found a transcript.

"When we sat down to write this book, I actually went back to "The World is Flat." I looked in the index, and I realized that Facebook wasn't in it. When I said the world was flat, Facebook didn't exist--or for most people it didn't exist, Twitter was a sound, the Cloud was in the sky, 4G was a parking place, LinkedIn was a prison, applications were what you sent to college and for most people, Skype was a typo. OK. That all happened in just the last seven years, David."

Yes, Mr. Thomas Freidman we have SUPER connectivity now but please remember in your rap lyrics that we also have "defriend". Defriend was the Oxford word of the year in 2009.

Charlie, during your re-run of the brain creativity episode it was said limitation was a key to their creativity--what they were NOT going to do inspired them.

Super-connectivity just means we now have to be even more selective. So a double edged sword Mr. Thomas Friedman.

tabs  09/08/2011 01:24 PM Report

Tom Friedman has put on a new costume, that of being a motivational Guru for nations. With his appearance on Mr Roses show and others we already are being subjected to the infomercials. Maybe this new book of his will be the first in a series of self help tomes?

REMant  09/08/2011 11:23 AM Report

Ol' Tom was hawking this latest tome on Sunday, so his appearance is not unexpected. Every other sentence then was "As I wrote in my new book..." I sometimes wonder if he really may need the money. But I can't accept the ideas being put forward of the way we were. Reminds me too much of Happy Days. The Democratic anthem by that name, being perfect Whig history, couldn't be more apt. We have become increasingly Whiggish, centralized, bureaucratic, and dependent. Other-directed, narcissistic, it has been said many times since Tocqueville, but it's true, and the alternative is nothing I believe either of these gentlemen has in mind.

If America has any beauty to its governance, it is that it still has as little of the latter as it has. But Mr Friedman thinks only in terms of govt. Others, viewing us from afar, where they do not have a tradition of self-reliance, have rather called America a perfect machine. That is also clearly overly optimistic, but it suggests something rather more organic. I would suggest this is what both Chinese leadership and ppl admire, but are far more aware of its difficulty. I, for one, would consider a book like this a life's work. The authors obviously do not. Like Hamilton, to whom we owe the adoption of fractional reserve banking, they want to create something, and like Horace Mann, to whom we owe the educational system, they think teachers can do that. But a skill is ipso facto something already created; basic research is by definition basic. They may be surprised to know that educators have been talking about preparing children for the future for a very long time.

My own feeling is that we have never been close to Europe in terms of creativity in every sphere, from soup to nuts, because it is built on experience, not willfulness. The exceptions are the only thing exceptional. The Wash Metro mentioned has always had trouble with its escalators, many of which are extremely lengthy, and is faced with replacing most of them, which they now can't afford (altho I don't imagine walking up them would be all that bad for most patrons). In large part things like this go back to Tocqueville's observation that Americans never build for the future, assuming it will become obsolete, or to Turner's boundless frontiersmen, which sounds a lot like Friedman's thesis turned on its head. There's something to be said for our attitude, egotistical as it may be, but it certainly makes for a very messy environment. I'll say again, the paradox of progressivism is its primitivism, which inevitably leads to authoritarianism.

Charlie may recall what I wrote about will, when the ex-prime minister was here last Dec: "And it was Hitler, of course, who was the preeminent expositor of the triumph of the will. His oratory abounds with it. In Sept 1939 he said, 'I conclude with the avowal I once pronounced as I began my struggle for power in the Reich. Back then I said: 'When our will is strong enough that need can no longer vanquish it, then our will and our German state will vanquish and conquer need.'"

I think nearly everyone now realizes that invading the Middle East was a big mistake, but it has been a long time coming, and there are still many holdouts, people who, like the Keynesians, reemerge like locusts every few years. And I would think similarly, after his 2007 ideas regarding oil prices, Charlie would be somewhat more circumspect on that point. We could easily have $2/gal gas either if the economy tanks, or if it improves substantially. The chances are, however, that neither will obtain, and it will remain pretty much the same, at least if the Democrats remain in power.