At the risk of disappointing those expecting an exhaustive review, prepare for something more concise.
If you believed the conveniently crafted collection of unlikely stories and glaring omissions in Thomas Friedman's "The World is Flat," then you'll probably love his latest book, "That Used To Be Us", written in collaboration with Michael Mandelbaum and in much the same sadly unsubstantiated vein.
If however this quote (taken from their September book presentation at a NYC Hudson Union Society event in the lovely Russian Tea Room) rubs you wrong in any way, then you'll probably be better off saving your copy for the chimney this Winter:
'The US has nothing to learn from China or India, the only place we have to look is our own history books.'
Ideas Have No Borders
If this kind of navel gazing is not your cup of tea, curl up instead with this talk from Sarah Kaminsky, one of many new Ted Talks originally delivered in a language other than English, reminding us that against all odds, be it violence, pestilence or oppression of any kind, ideas have no borders. And regardless of what history books Friedman and Mandelbaum might be reading, the fact is, they never have.
Ideas have always transcended the arbitrary borders of politics and even of culture, and for the sake of this country, one can only hope that brighter minds prevail on this one, because if nearly 2.5 billion souls have absolutely nothing to teach the US, then who on earth does?
Nathalie tweets as @globalmisfit and would love to get an email from you.
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