The biggest part of the pollution, aside from what is floating on the rivers in China, is the plastic bilge flowing forth from Thomas Friedman. ♘
Casting what he calls an "envious eye" on China, Friedman finds that country's "one-party autocracy" so much more efficient, informed, and wise than our messy democratic way of doing things. "In China," Friedman explained on Meet The Press last year, "if the leadership can get around to an enlightened decision it can order it from the top down." Meanwhile here in America, with our two-party system, "every solution is sub-optimal."
In his book Hot, Flat and Crowded, Friedman offers what he believes to be an irrefutable example of China's superior sagacity and why he yearns for America to become "China for a day." You see, China's State Council prohibited free plastic bags and banned the "production, sale, and use of ultrathin plastic bags ... in order to get shoppers to use recyclable baskets and cloth satchels."
"Bam! Just like that — 1.3 billion people, theoretically, will stop using thin plastic bags," he marveled. "Millions of barrels of petroleum will be saved, and mountains of garbage avoided."...
...
China on right track?
Still, at least in theory, China is awesome because it can efficiently impose the right policies, right?
Wrong.
For years, I've been going after Friedman hammer and tongs for his authoritarian fetish. But perhaps the most damning critique is that banning plastic bags isn't necessarily the optimal policy.
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