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11 November
1984
8:09 P.M.
Night Train from Shanghai
I'm on the
night train from Shanghai to Nanjing, China. Charles is next
door cutting a "2 million dollar deal" to help a Hong Kong
trading house sell commercial technology to the Chinese.
So while the
technical advisor is doing his thing, I am sitting here in
this rocking compartment, wondering if the gamble was worth
it. We didn't have an official invite, zero cash until we got
$1,000 the day we left Houston, my Gold American Express
card--and that was it.
I knew we
couldn't do any international business by continuing on the
rubber chicken circuit in Houston. To be international, one
has to get 'out there' and go for it. It's a challenge to
write in this swaying car, so I will lay back and contemplate
the world as we roll past the night landscape. This trip can
only get better..." * |
It didn't. That six-week trip through
China was part Marco Polo and an eye-opener. It was my first after
getting laid off from a Fortune 500 company. I was trying to export
American goods (which creates jobs here), but I found few American
companies willing to try. If I'd decided to buy Chinese goods to
import into the U.S. instead, I'd have struck it rich. I didn't do
that either. We are still feeling those effects today.
That trip to China occurred when the
Texas economy was going south in the '80s -- when Texas companies
needed to sell products overseas to stay in business, but many were
too afraid to try anything new. A lot went broke instead. A lot of
U.S. companies now are going global, but many are exporting jobs
instead of goods or services.
An example: My water heater just went
out over Easter weekend. The plumber told me that our new one was
the last one that will be made in America (story at my blog
referenced below). What kind of future does that leave us?
I think we'd be a better off if all
Americans were required to travel as a condition of citizenship --
so they see for themselves what is going on in the world, in
business and politically, instead of just taking as gospel what some
politicians tell them. At the minimum it would sure make people more
grateful for what we have. We can't lead a world we know too little
about. I recently witnessed a congressional candidate proclaim his
ignorance on global affairs and threats against us -- not reassuring
in a global economy that includes global terrorists.
[to top of second column in
this article] |
But there is good news. A fellow member
of my Civil Air Patrol squadron, whom we call "Traveler," is
currently flying a small plane over Australia with his wife (it's a
20-hour jet ride just to get there). His nickname comes from having
traveled to over 30 countries since he retired from a Fortune 500
company. When he gets back I intend to ask him if flying on the
bottom of the planet, Down Under in Australia, is upside down (just
kidding).
I also met a young couple with a cute
baby named Sarah at a festival this weekend who told me that they
had lived in Shanghai, China, for three years, teaching, before
moving to Sugar Land -- a burb just outside of Houston. Their
worldview was sharply different from many Americans I meet. They
were conservative but were informed.
These are just two examples of what I
call "global Americans" who represent our future if we are to remain
a superpower. We need more like them, ranging from the young
soldiers sent to Iraq to students like my wife's oldest son, who has
studied abroad in East Europe and South America and knows more about
global events than that congressional candidate.
To thrive
(and survive) in the 21st century, we will need to become global
Americans --from Main Street to Wall Street and in Congress and the
White House.
[Michael Fjetland, Global
American series]
*From "Better Times Ahead: April Fool?"
a book being written about the future of America, by Michael
Fjetland.
Reprints allowed with author credit and
website reference to this site where interested parties can
subscribe (free):
www.INTLEGALGROUP.com.
Michael Fjetland (pronounced "Fetland")
is an international attorney and negotiator who has been in over 55
countries since the 1970s, is a volunteer pilot with the U.S. Air
Force Auxiliary and is a TV terrorism analyst in Houston
For
something completely different, check out Michael's Online Blog:
http://journals.aol.com/fjet2020/GlobalAmerican/.
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