Are America’s best days behind her?


Thomas Friedman – New York Times foreign affairs columnist and author of That Used to Be Us: How America Fell Behind in the World It Invented and How We Can Come Back – headlined the 2012 Geopolitical Summit Feb. 13.

For New York Times foreign affairs columnist Thomas Friedman, the No. 1 foreign policy issue facing the United States is saving the American Dream.

Friedman addressed the FIU community Feb. 13 as part of the 2012 Geopolitical Summit. This year’s summit focused on the crisis posed by the global economic recession. Friedman warned the audience in the Graham Center Ballrooms that Americans are not making the progress they need to make to survive the global economic turmoil, and the American dream will be lost if students don’t up their game.

“You are competing head-to-head with students in Shanghai.” he said. “If the whole world was a class, the math curve has risen.” With globalization, employers have access to more above-average job-seekers than ever before.

“Average is officially over.” he added. “Everyone has to find their extra-value added.”

Friedman and President Mark B. Rosenberg met with students and answered their questions after the Geopolitical Summit (photo courtesy of @mariodigiovanni on Twitter)

International Relations major Gilberto Campo read Friedman’s previous book, The World is Flat, in anthropology class. He came to the lecture even though his professor said he didn’t have to. “A lot of the points he made in The World is Flat made sense – technology has flattened the world. It was cool to hear how those same theories apply to America’s future success.”

In his lecture, Friedman argued the three Rs (reading, writing and arithmetic) are no longer enough. The U.S. education system also needs to focus on the three Cs – creativity, communication and collaboration – to bring that extra value-added.

To compete in the global market, Friedman recommended, begin by thinking like an immigrant. There is no legacy spot awaiting you. You need to stay hungry. Secondly, he said, think like an artisan. Artisans carved their initials into their work. They took ownership. You need to take pride in your work. Thirdly, think like Amazon’s Jeff Bezos who ends his monthly newsletter: “We are in year one of the Internet.” To remain competitive, you need to keep re-engineering your work. And lastly, think like an entrepreneur.

“We have to train our students not to find a job but to invent a job,” said the three-time recipient of the Pulitzer Prize.

When asked if he believed in American exceptionalism, Friedman responded, “Yes, but it’s not an honorary title. We have to work for it.” The author of That Used to Be Us: How America Fell Behind in the World It Invented and How We Can Come Back said, “We didn’t become the world’s most powerful country by accident. We actually had a formula for success.”

Those principal American values that were the basis for success are not difficult to restore, he said: educating people up to and beyond what’s needed; having the world’s best infrastructure; being home to the world’s most open immigration policy to attract the best and brightest; and incentivizing risk-taking while regulating greed. The problem is that the American political system is broken.

Neither political party represents those interests. The United States, he said, needs a third party that would truly focus on cutting spending, raising revenue and investing.

“America’s best days are not behind her,” Frieman concluded. “If we do a few big things right, you’ll see this country take off.”

Engineering major Luisa Arias’ father turned her onto Friedman’s work. She felt privileged to be able to hear from the New York Times columnist firsthand. “It’s so much better face to face.  You really get his points.”