Thomas Friedman has
a way of putting things
. Here are parts of his column comparing Israel and Iran.
In the first quarter of 2008, the top four economies after America in attracting venture capital for start-ups were: Europe $1.53 billion, China $719 million, Israel $572 million and India $99 million, according to Dow Jones VentureSource. Israel, with 7 million people, attracted almost as much as China, with 1.3 billion. …
Iran has invented nothing of importance since the Islamic Revolution, which is a shame. Historically, Iranians have been a dynamic and inventive people — one only need look at the richness of Persian civilization to see that. But the Islamic regime there today does not trust its people and will not empower them as individuals.
Of course, oil wealth can buy all the software and nuclear technology you want, or can’t develop yourself. This is not an argument that we shouldn’t worry about Iran. Ahmadinejad should, though.
Iran’s economic and military clout today is largely dependent on extracting oil from the ground. Israel’s economic and military power today is entirely dependent on extracting intelligence from its people.
Israel’s economic power is endlessly renewable. Iran’s is a dwindling resource based on fossil fuels made from dead dinosaurs. [Emphasis and paragraph break added.]
2 comments:
What a bunch of CRAP. Since the 1979 revolution, literacy rates (particularly for women) has tripled, and more Iranians than ever have access to clean water, electricity, eduction, and medical care. Iran is a major producer of automobiles, and Iranian scientists are becoming well-known see http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/breaking/2008/06/02/yasaman-farzan-building-neutrino-physics-in-iran/
Oh, and nevermind that for decades, israel has sucked the US dry and obtained billions and billions of dollars from the US taxpayer.
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