Michael Giberson
Astonishing. What Thomas Friedman wrote in the New York Times, that is.
One-party autocracy certainly has its drawbacks. But when it is led by a reasonably enlightened group of people … it can also have great advantages. That one party can just impose the politically difficult but critically important policies…
Astonishing, because while there is a lot of popular sentiment for imposing “politically difficult but critically important policies,” few forward thinkers are willing to so publicly commit themselves to admiring repressive regimes in order to make the policy trains run on time.
Friedman makes other notable remarks, which Will Wilkinson ably addresses.
“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.”, Lord Acton
Friedman had best be careful regarding that for which he wishes, for he might get it.
I thought it was “Power corrupts. Absolute power is kind of neat.” 😉
John Lehman (1942 – ), Secretary of the Navy, 1981-1987
No doubt Friedman disapproves of the policy of the Chinese government regarding freedom of speech and freedom of the press, and doesn’t understand how that policy is simply part of the one-party autocracy package that “can just impose the politically difficult” policies he likes.
Remember that the Italian trains were running on time BEFORE Mussolini became dictator: http://www.snopes.com/history/govern/trains.asp
Re: David Zetland
So we can’t even credit fascism for getting the Italian trains to run on time? So then it was worthless, wasn’t it.