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Symposium gives global perspective
Published September 30, 2008
LAKE JACKSON — Young American soldiers wearing flak jackets and helmets have become the protectors of Muslim women, Lt. Col. Oliver North told 200 attendees at a Brazosport College economic symposium Monday.
The Fox News correspondent, best-selling author, Texas native and retired U.S. Marine colonel mixed humor, emotion and politics in his message highlighting the actions of soldiers he called heroes for their unselfish acts of bravery in and out of combat.
North was the last of seven speakers at the “Winds of Change” economic symposium, sponsored by Texas Dow Employees Credit Union. Topics ranged from world politics and war to worldwide population trends and education of young workers at home.
More than 1 million American soldiers have fought in Iraq or Afghanistan as part of the War on Terror, North said, and each deserves a shot at solid employment when they rejoin the civilian workforce. American soldiers have qualities like loyalty, integrity, courage and compassion, he said.
“They want to get an education,” he said. “They know there are enormous challenges but they can overcome them. They are remarkable Americans.”
Soldiers don’t take for granted things like functioning electricity, honest police officers, finding what they’re looking for in a grocery store and expecting “their countrymen to come to their aid,” he said. North illustrated his point by pointing to the actions of people along the Texas Gulf Coast when Hurricane Ike slammed ashore Sept. 13.
“The people with whom you work can change the outcome from disastrous to wonderful,” North said.
North, whose topic was “What’s Right About America,” does not put major media on his list. Media outlets and many U.S. lawmakers see the war in Iraq as lost, North said. But the war is all but won, he said, expressing the sense the legacy of Vietnam could be repeated — that the war could be won on the ground and lost in Washington.
WORLD VIEW
Former CIA National Intelligence Council vice chairman Herbert Meyer made the same observation in his address, which focused on how the demographics of the world are changing and the role of religious conflict and reduced poverty will have on the future of the West.
“We’ve just about got it done,” Meyer said of stabilizing Iraq. “We are so close. God bless the troops. They did it.”
There are still mountains to climb, like the Taliban returning to Afghanistan, political unrest in Pakistan and political uncertainty in America, he said. The war still could be lost in Congress and in the court of public opinion, but that would be a manufactured loss, he said.
The current high price of fuel and construction materials has less to do with war than it does peace, Meyer said. The rush by China to become part of the world economy is having a massive impact, he said.
“In the last eight years, consumption in China has doubled,” Meyer said. China has a “growing middle class” which demands goods and services just as do Americans.
The expansion of a middle class worldwide as tens of millions of people emerge from poverty each year will be the driving political and economic force globally, Meyer said. This is because the last thing any middle class wants is war, he said, and because it will force the introduction of products that are clever, inexpensive and environmentally friendly to meet their needs.
Population growth is slow in America, he said, but at a rate in which the current population can be sustained — although that is in large part due to a much higher birth rate among Hispanics. The same is not true of countries such as Germany and Spain, whose populations must be supplemented by immigrants to provide a sufficient workforce.
THE NEXT BEST THING
America has “always” been particularly good at one thing, Rice University economics professor and Perryman Group founder Ray Perryman said.
“The next big thing,” he said.
The United States might not crank out goods like China or make copious copies like Taiwan, but when there’s something new everyone wants on the horizon, America is first in line.
And, Perryman added, the economy is not in a recession, but an economic slowdown. The economy continues to grow, just not as quickly as it has in the past.
The key to future success will be in finding ways to address the need for fuel — fossil, solar, wind and other sources — to power upcoming generations, he said.
“All the smart kids today are sitting around fiddling with energy,” he said, comparing youths to the people who “fiddled around” with the Internet and electronics companies.
Brazoria County and Texas are in position to grow with more job training. The area has the employee pool, access to the world through ports and industry, he said.
Edward Speed, president and CEO of Texas Dow Employees Credit Union, emceed the event. TDECU and the Brazosport College Center for Business Training sponsored the day.
• Brazosport Regional Health System CEO Daniel Buche discussed health care in the region. Health care costs are currently 15 percent of the American gross domestic product, which is too high, he said. It should be around 10 percent.
• Dow Corporate Vice President Carol Dudley addressed the state of industry here. The use and sources of energy, and educating the workforce, will be main topics for Dow in the foreseeable future, she said.
• Gromax Development’s Kevin Cole spoke on real estate development. Houston will continue growing toward the south, down the Highway 288 corridor, Cole said.
• Speed delivered opening remarks and Brazosport College President Millicent Valek gave an address on workforce initiatives.
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