The Peculiar Genius of Thomas Friedman

Wednesday, 8th December 2010

Is, as someone suggested recently, to be either a dumb person's idea of a clever person or a clever person's idea of a dumb person. Or both. Perhaps the worst paragraph written this year comes, not surprisingly, from America's chief metaphor-mangler Thomas Friedman:

More than ever, America today reminds me of a working couple where the husband has just lost his job, they have two kids in junior high school, a mortgage and they’re maxed out on their credit cards. On top of it all, they recently agreed to take in their troubled cousin, Kabul, who just can’t get his act together and keeps bouncing from relative to relative. Meanwhile, their Indian nanny, who traded room and board for baby-sitting, just got accepted to M.I.T. on a full scholarship and will be leaving them in a few months. What to do?

As Jonah Goldberg says, that "more than ever" is delicious. There's so much wrong with this paragraph tha trying to navigate it is useless. You will get lost. (Why would you have a live-in nanny for kids who are at junior high? Couldn't Kabul give Mr and Mrs America the occasional night off? Speaking of Kabul, which family member was looking after him before? And, actually, isn't it a good thing that Nanny is off to MIT and on a full scholarship, no less? And so much more...) You can also enjoy this monstrosity in animated form here.

Needless to say the column ends with Friedman's now-characteristic suggestion that everything would be better - solved! - if only America were more like China. Yeah, really.

Filed under: Americana (479 more articles) , Hackery (218 more articles) , Newspapers (382 more articles)

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dearieme

December 9th, 2010 12:41pm Report this comment

"if only America were more like China": well, roll dem tanks at the citizenry, then.

David Bouvier

December 9th, 2010 12:48pm Report this comment

Awful writing, bad politics, but the basic point that the USA like Europe are not owed their living standards by someone else, and need to knuckle down and earn their keep is valid.

Baron

December 9th, 2010 5:28pm Report this comment

the metaphor may not fit, but the writing ain’t that bad, it feels OK to a poorly educated Slav. What’s wrong with the family having a nanny for a couple of unruly pupils, why is it important to know who looked after the chap Kabul, the full scholarship to MIT’s good news for the nanny, not the family of whom the cartoon’s about.

what I’d like to know if the guy doing the talking’s gay, pink shirt and all.

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