3 Bombs

A fascinating op-ed in yesterday's NY Times by Thomas Friedman about the differences between our lives and our children's lives. He compares the nuclear threat from the Soviets that shadowed our (boomer) childhoods with the three threats that he now sees challenging his children's lives: the nuclear threat from terrorists, the economic threat from a government deeply in debt, and the environmental threat from global warming. The element that creates the most anxiety is not knowing exactly when any of these "bombs" will go off, and the fact that only the nuclear threat is being seriously addressed. There are a couple of nice quotes in the article. From environmentalist Rob Watson: "Mother Nature is just chemistry, biology, and physics... Mother nature always bats last, and she always bats a thousand." And from John Holdren: "We're driving in a car with bad brakes in a fog and heading for a cliff. We know for sure that cliff is out there. We just don't know exactly where it is. Prudence would suggest that we should start putting on the brakes."

One of Tom's most thought-provoking columns.