New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman:
“China for a day is a fantasy, basically. What if we had a government here that could actually make decisions? Okay? That could actually come together, Democrats and Republicans, and make a long-term plan and pursue it?
“Basically what I’m saying is if only our government could get its act together and launch a green revolution with the same persistence, focus, stick-to-it-iveness and direction that China does through authoritarian means.”
Thomas Friedman writes with crayons.
“That could actually come together, Democrats and Republicans, and make a long-term plan and pursue it?”
If there was an opposition party in China, they would all be sentenced to hard labor.
The original green revolution, much to Friedman's chagrin, was launched by Norman Borlaug, a polite quite Christian gentlemen and agronomist who turned counties such as Mexico and India, who were on the road to starvation, into actual food exporters. His work continued to further advance crop yields when he teamed up with Ryoichi Sasakawa, a Japanese billionaire, to export his green revolution to other countries.
But somehow, I don't think this actual, productive green revolution (the next stage which might likely come from GMO food) is what Friedman has in mind.