New Ambassador?

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Permalink Reply by J.T. Hessert on November 14, 2008 at 4:25pm

Hi Esther,

Interesting related article:

Thomas Friedman vs. Bill McKibben on the global economy :
(http://www.larynandjanel.com/blog/thomas_friedman_vs_bill_mckibben_...)

I haven't read Friedman's latest book, but to address the question: I don't think Friedman is on his way to becoming the face of the environmental/ climate movement.

He is one of many voices; he is a journalist. Unlike McKibben, Majora Carter, Van Jones and thousands more -- he doesn't really seem to be directly involved in ACTION, ORGANIZING etc.. I look @ the three names I mentioned above (and thousands more) and I see concrete results / objectives achieved (or at the least a struggle / attempt to achieve results/ objectives), I don't see that with Friedman.

Here is a link to the Davos A Unified Earth Theory Friedman Moderated, with Gore and Bono.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=4LfNXPkzMb0&NR=1

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Permalink Reply by Esther on November 14, 2008 at 6:03pm

As I read the bit about Thomas Friedman, I was picturing the call to action re: 350 from Bill McKibbens at the Bioneers Conference last month... He asked people to get out their cell phones and send a text. It was as simple as that... but look at the response!

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Permalink Reply by J.T. Hessert on November 14, 2008 at 8:06pm

I agree every little bit counts: and a book such as Hot, Flat and Crowded from a writer like Friedman will certainly not hurt the environmental / social justice movement.

When I read your article I thought of the differences in Mckibben and Friedman though, this review written by Mckibben explains more:

Green Fantasia
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/22027

I honestly picked up Friedman's book the day it came out and didn't finish it: and that is not normal for me. I agree with many of Mckibben's comments in the above NY review.

I like some of his other books though, and will have to budget the time to read his latest.

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Permalink Reply by Jake de Grazia on November 17, 2008 at 11:00am

Thanks for the link to the McKibben review. Excellent. Important observations.

And I agree that we shouldn't turn to Friedman or any other journalist/storyteller/celebrity to run operations for the Movement, but ops people don't have to be the face of things. Friedman can evangelize, and I don't think we should underestimate the importance of that. Big, fancy, convincing salespeople are useful. Al Gore was our chief evangelist for a while, but his political baggage holds him back. I think it might be a good thing if Friedman stepped in and gave it a whirl.

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