Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Thomas Friedman's Bondage Fetish   [Mark Steyn]

Jonah, you're right, of course, that the technocratic argument — that there are no legitimate philosophical or policy differences, merely correct solutions that all experts agree on and that democratic politics merely obstructs — has been used to justify totalitarian regimes from Germany and Italy to the rinky-dinkiest post-colonial African basket-case backwater.

But what's even weirder about Friedman's valentine to the Politburo is that on his big bugbear — "climate change" — the Chinese have explicitly rejected the cap-&-trade/emissions reduction regime he urges upon us. Having no public opinion or Friedmanite media to worry about at home, the ChiComs told the "international community" to go take a hike.

But, because they nod thoughtfully when he jets in for dinner en route from King Abdullah to the Deputy Sustainability Minister of North Korea, he thinks they're the cat's biodegradable pajamas. Good to know the Times is still channeling its inner Walter Duranty.

P.S. Jonah, you're also correct that China is an unlikely eco-poster-child. Remember back in 2003? Humanitarian groups like Care International were complaining that, since the fall of Saddam, 500,000 tons of raw sewage were being pumped into Iraqi waters each day and it was all the Great Satan's fault. For purposes of comparison, just one Chinese city — Chongqing — was putting 1 million tons of raw sewage into the Yangtse every day. In 2000, China put 23.5 billion tons of raw sewage into the Yangtse — or 63 million tons a day.

09/09 12:02 PMShare