From the book:<\/p>\n IN the fall of 1982, I arrived here as an 18-year old student from India. America was in rough shape. That December, unemployment hit 10.8%, higher than any point since World War II. Interest rates hovered around 15%. Vietnam, Watergate, the energy crisis and the Iranian hostage crisis all battered American confidence. Images of the helicopters on the roof of the American Embassy in Saigon, of Nixon resigning, of long lines at gas stations, and of the hostages blindfolded were all fresh in people’s minds. The Soviet Union was on a roll, expanding its influence far beyond its borders, from Afghanistan to Angola to Central America. That June, Israel invaded Lebanon, making a volatile situation in the Middle East even more tense.<\/p>\n Yet America was a strikingly open and expansive country. Reagan embodied it. Despite record-low approval ratings at the time, he exuded optimism from the center of the storm. In the face of Moscow’s rising power, he confidently spoke of a moral crisis in the Soviet\u00a0 system and predicted it would end up on “the ash heap of history.”\u00a0 Across the political aisle stood Thomas (Tip) O’Neill, the hearty Irish-American Speaker of the House, who personified the generosity and tolerance of old-school liberalism. Everywhere I went, the atmosphere was warm and welcoming. It was a feeling I had never had before, a country wide open to the world, to the future, and to anyone who loved it. To a young visitor, it seemed to offer unlimited generosit and promise.<\/p>\n For America to thrive in this new and challenging era, for it to succeed amid the rise of the rest, it need fulfill only one test. It should be a place that is as inviting and exciting to the young student who enters the country today as it was for this awkward 18-year old a generation ago.<\/p>\n I arrived here in September 1967 as a young 25-year old student from Australia. I brought a 175 cc motor scooter across from Europe on a ship. They hoisted my bike from\u00a0 the ship’s hold and placed it ever so gently on the pier.\u00a0 I looked around for Customs or Immigration. Eventually I found a dockworker and asked “What do I do now?” He answered, “Where do you want to go?” I said “Boston.” He pointed north-east and said “It’s that way.” I got on my scooter and drove (slowly) to Boston. It was so simple, so logical and so open.<\/p>\n When I had left Australia a year earlier, my boss told me I would love the Americans because “they were just like me.” They substituted enthusiasm for intelligence. I thought he was insulting. He wasn’t. Americans got things done. They set ridiculous goals and achieved them because the knew they could.<\/p>\n Fourteen years later I shared the American dream and became an American:<\/p>\n Today’s\u00a0 problems\u00a0 are minor when viewed against America’s 235-year history.<\/p>\n I before there are more opportunities for enthusiastic Americans\u00a0 and aspiring Americans than ever. In fact, I am seeing more business startups than I have ever seen. I’ve actually invested in a few in recent months. It’s fun meeting young people who are living the American dream. I visit a software startup today at 11:30 AM. Though the idea is somewhat north of Plantet X, the enthusiasm of the kids for their ideas is contagious.<\/p>\n Last night we had dinner with a friend’s 14-year old son. He has an idea for a T-shirt business with a difference. (Personally I don’t get it.) He’s already lined up retail distribution, is checking out suppliers and is harrassing me to be his first customer. Which I’ll be privileged to be. He’s 14 and has just read a book on America’s millionaires and billionaires who dropped out of college to strike it rich, and did. I daren’t tell his father whio believes formal education is next to godliness.<\/p>\n Just think how rich I’d be if I had dropped out of college and grad school!<\/p>\n On going gluten-free.<\/strong><\/span> Gluten is found in all wheat, barley and rye products. Many people are allergic to it. They may become malnourished because the carbohydrate energy they would normally get\u00a0 from gluten goes straight through their body without being absorbed. That can damage the small intestine. It can also cause weird allergic reactions. By stripping gluten from your diet you can cure strange symptoms — not normally associated with what’s known now as celiac disease. Novak Djokovic was diagnozed with celiac, went off gluten and went on to win the US Tennis Open.<\/p>\n Novak Djokovic won this year’s US Open. He beat Nadal in the most physically grueling tennis match I’ve ever seen.<\/em><\/p>\n I wrote about gluten yesterday. Many readers wrote in, commenting that by going gluten-free, they or their friends and relatives had achieved remarkable improvements in their health. The comments are worth reading. Click here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Confessions of a shoe nut. <\/strong>Tennis has made my feet wider and my left foot longer than my right foot. Hence I am now obsessed within finding comfortable casual shoes. With the boom in running, there has been an explosion in casual shoes — each one promising more comfort and better performance than the other. One\u00a0 “big” craze has been barefoot running — or as close to it as you can design a lightweight shoe. There’s been an explosion of lightweight shoes. They’re very comfortable — and light to pack for a trip. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n One major problem with many of them is they assume you run with your knees apart (thnk riding a horse) and the designers slice the heel, like this adidas ClimaCool Ride shoe: <\/span><\/p>\n I find shoes like this uncomfortable, since I run flat. Tennis shoes and older running shoes typically have flat heels, which work better for me. This is the adidas Barricade 2 tennis shoe, which I love. Note its flat heel.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n That’s it for shoes.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Is it weird enough yet? <\/strong>Thomas Friedman’s latest column on global weather weirding. Click<\/span> here.<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Favorite recent New Yorker cartoons.<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/ThePostAmericanWorld.jpg\" "\\"ThePostAmericanWorld\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n