Friday Night insights

Tonight, Karen and I went to a lecture given by Thomas Friedman, author of many books, including The World is Flat, and his newest book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded . I had heard Mr. Friedman speak on NPR last week, and thought he was an entertaining and passionate speaker. He was a bit less forceful tonight, but the talk was just as thought-provoking. Early in the speech, he said much the same thing that I had in a previous blog (made me feel very pleased with myself, I must admit); I said: "If you want to do things a new way, try researching alternative sources of energy and therefore really spread the wealth among innovative Americans (you remember, those people who did amazing things in this country not too long ago), instead of just shoving more into the pockets of the oil companies." He said it much better, but basically his point was that America has lost its' way since 9/11--we have spent so much on defending ourselves against terror, we are ignoring the real issues that are far more threatening than terrorists. We've also lost the desire to be the most innovative in the world, especially when it comes to alternative energy research. The phase we are entering is the ET Revolution--Earth Technology, and we should embrace it just as we did the IT Revolution.
His talk was fascinating, but a bit bleak at times; it's hard to fathom that, by 2020, there will be over 9 Billion people on this planet, all competing for precious resources. I listened, I tried to comprehend, but at the end, all I could think of was what a dichotomy it was for me. He talked about the dire state of the world, which followed a week of financial disaster for this country, which came on the heels of another devastating hurricane, and more insurgent fighting in Afghanistan. Herein lies the dichotomy: I'm the happiest I have ever been. I am passionately in love with an incredible woman, my kids are doing very well and are happy, my family is healthy and thriving, I love my friends and the time we spend together, and basically my little world is a great place to live in. I worry about all the problems of our country and world, but damn, I'm still feeling very blessed indeed. This week, I've been reminded just how blessed I am.