Clyde Prestowitz - Leaders in Reverse
| posted by Push InstituteClyde Prestowitz, author of Trading Places, Three Billion New Capitalists: The Great Shift of Wealth and Power to the East, and current member of both the Intel Policy Advisory Board and the U.S. Export-Import Bank Advisory Board closed Monday's round of speakers. He asked that listeners first focus on the issues that are demanding and will demand change, then problem-solve and decide what needs to be done about changing those issues.
Prestowitz translated his ideas into reality through a colorful story of a recent trip to Mexico City and then to Shanghai, destinations that face significant challenges that are relevant both internally and externally. The crippled Mexican police represent just one example of the failing state that lies just across our border. And with the Gobi Desert growing at a rate of 2km per year and coal power plants popping up weekly, China faces impending environmental devastation that will not remain confined within one country's borders. In both destinations, the short-term need for basic security and energy, respectively, are pitted against the long-term potential consequences of a failed state and an unlivable natural environment. Accompanying each issue is the potential to do harm at home in the U.S., yet the redeeming possibility of pragmatic decision-making still exists.
Moreover, Thomas Friedman has popularized the notion that globalization will make everyone rich, democratic and thus peaceful. Prestowitz argued that globalization does not make democracy strong; rather, it makes autocracy strong (see the Middle East and China versus relatively weak Western democracies). Rapid economic growth does not commonly occur under democracy; democracy comes about later. We are experiencing globalization in which developing countries question the validity and superiority of democracy. This concept obviously demands our consideration.
And considering democracy, Prestowitz was one of the many speakers today to mention the upcoming election. His view is that the three most important issues facing the next president will be 1) the collapse of the dollar 2) energy and 3) the nature of our democracy in regard to the system of checks and balances that make the system difficult to challenge, especially in relation to global warming legislation. So, how do we use change-agents to make our systems work better and address our problems?
Posting by Anna Wool
