In his internationally best-selling book, The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century, Thomas Friedman writes, “In China today, Bill Gates is Britney Spears. In America today, Britney Spears is Britney Spears — that is our problem.”
His perceptive humor, along with the political astuteness only a three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist such as himself is expected to have, are just a few of the many qualities that made his remarkable speech on Oct. 12 at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall memorable.
Friedman’s reputation preceded him Tuesday, the inaugural night of the fifth annual Baltimore Speakers Series.
The Baltimore Speakers Series, hosted by Stevenson University, invited seven distinguished lecturers from all over the world to come speak throughout the course of the year.
The lecturers, ranging from Pulitzer Prize and Nobel Peace Prize winners, previous heads of state, journalists, and celebrated personalities have always been an extraordinary collection of people.
Colin Powell, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Amy Tan, and Madeline Albright are just a few of previous year’s speakers.
This year another group of accomplished lecturers, from Elizabeth Gilbert to F.W. de Klerk, will add to the list of those who’ve spoken at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, situated in the heart of Mount Vernon.
The Hall, an extraordinary display of architecture, was filled Tuesday evening as guests began to filter in.
They were offered an expansive wine list, the opportunity to purchase Friedman’s most recent book Hot, Flat, and Crowded, the cornerstone of his lecture, and were invited to peruse the literature distributed by the various other organizations hosting the event.
The talk drew in a crowd that seemed to be avid New York Times readers — those that probably follow Friedman’s biweekly column — adults, dressed in formal regalia, prepared to listen to one of the foremost political thinkers of our time.
The lights in the expansive auditorium dimmed promptly at eight o’clock. The president of Stevenson University, Kevin J. Manning, delivered opening remarks noting his excitement for the upcoming year of remarkable speakers and restating the goal of The Baltimore Speaker Series: “[It is] a series where ideas are shared.”
After another introduction by a local Baltimore news anchor, Friedman finally took the audience by storm.
He sauntered onto the stage with a bright smile on his face, and aside from a few introductory acknowledgements, jumped straight to the chase. He was ready to talk about politics.
He opened by saying that his 50-minute talk, centered around his new book, would be divided into two parts: a diagnosis of the country today, and how he thought the country should be “fixed.”
With the characteristic zeal and charisma he imparts in his detailed political writings, Friedman, accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation, began unfolding his ideas.
Before discussing his qualms with American politics, he disclosed his own personal biases.
“I believe in three things, “ he began, “One, 95 percent of what I got in life is because I was born in this country, in this generation, and with these institutions . . . Two, 95 percent of what I enjoy in life is being outdoors with clean water, clean air . . . and I believe we need to pass that on to our children. Three, a lot of bad stuff happens in the world without the U.S.’s hand, but not a lot of good stuff happens with it either.”
He went on to describe at great length how his three tenets have transformed the way he views America.
Infusing his points were funny anecdotes and using projected images from all over the world that substantiated his arguments, as well as pithy analogies served to keep the audience hooked and to help them understand the nuances of his conclusions.
Friedman’s central focus was that the world today is at a crossroads, and it is America’s job to move it forward: “[We are at the] moment when the market and Mother Nature hit a wall.”
His linkage of ecology and the economy was a continuing theme throughout the speech.
And though his statements sometimes tended toward the hyperbolic, “If we don’t act sustainably we will be more unsafe than if the Soviets had won the Cold War,” the data he provided on global warming, or as he called it, “global weirding,” were sobering.
That the earth’s temperature will rise one degree Centigrade in the next 50 years, that the ice caps are melting steadily at more rapid rates, and that the earth’s population will reach 9.2 billion by 2050 were weaved into his larger point that initiatives must be taken now.
In response to climate change skeptics Friedman eloquently said, “Uncertainty is not a reason not to act. It is a reason to act.”
His speech highlighted many negative trends occurring in both America and the rest of the world.
However, Friedman, a self-proclaimed optimist, did not seem deterred by the seemingly insurmountable challenges that he himself pointed out face the generation living in the 21st century:
“These trends are a series of incredible opportunities masquerading as impossible and insoluble problems.”
Following the speech was a question and answer session that lasted a little over five minutes due to time constraints.
Though time was limited, Friedman had the opportunity to end his detailed and eloquent lecture on a positive note.
He reminded the audience that despite the challenges the country faces, “We have exactly enough time, starting now.”
