It was a Thomas Friedman column like so many others: the pundit careens through the roads of India, breathlessly marveling at the innovation he sees. Ain’t globalization … awesome?
But this is Thomas Friedman 2.0, green version; this time, he’s not being squired about by a loquacious and colorful local taxi driver, but rather by a pair of young Yalies in a "a plug-in electric car that is also powered by rooftop solar panels." And rather than gape slack-jawed at some software wizard’s handiwork or a gleaming new factory, the pundit is bowled over by stuff like "organic farming in Andhra Pradesh, or using neem and garlic as pesticide."
And that’s not all. Friedman and his entourage visit a "local prince’s palace to recharge their cars," and discover that his highness’ business was "cultivating worms and selling them as eco-friendly alternatives to chemical fertilizers."
Friedman once proclaimed that prospects for world peace hinged on dotting the globe with McDonald’s franchises. Now he’s blustering over organic farming. It’s enough to make you gush about universal progress.
