Believe it or not, there are many Americans who still believe that they are the top of the world, that in Asia people are still wallowing in shantytowns and mud-brick houses. When my mother first came to Canada, someone actually asked her if we had running water and electricity.
The "USA No. 1" mentality that many people still seem to have is the main reason why the US cannot proceed to fixing itself - most people have never traveled outside of the USA, least of all to Asia, and the media doesn't cover this nearly enough - Asia is advancing rapidly, its wealth and quality of life is rapidly approaching that of the US, and unless you act now your supremacy in the world will be lost forever.
Until more people realize how advanced Asia has become, I think Thomas Friedman's message is entirely appropriate and welcome.
I'm curious, what G7 nation's major city have you been to that had trains as terrible as New York?
I really disliked the article, too. So Hongkong airport is impressive. Hm, maybe some dictatorship has shelled out serious money to make an impression? Somehow it reminds me of the dot com boom - the companies who spent the most were to first to go bankrupt...
3/5 cheap rhetoric, 1/5 bragging about some "exotic" place he has been, 1/5 self evident observation equals one Thomas Friedman column.
Dear NYT. Fire this man already!
Oh, wait. NYT is the newspaper who thinks it is a good idea to employ Ben Stein too. They will not see the incompetence of Friedman if they are blind to the insanity of Ben Stein (search google for Ben Stein Watch)....