The real disaster of 2012? Outsourcing.
I took my 13-year-old son to see ‘2012’ a couple of days ago. This is the souped-up disaster movie in which the world ends with all the flamboyant glitz of a Broadway show tune from hell.
The depressing part wasn’t the vision of an aircraft carrier dropping messily on the White House or California tipping into the Pacific like a massive tray of finger-food.
No, the dreary part is that when all the world’s nations decide to build hi-tech arks to sustain a remnant human population, they outsource the job to China.
Yes, that’s right. It’s the first American disaster movie in which the big solution is China’s can-do attitude.
There’s even a line in the movie where the snarky American politician tips his hat to China’s pluck and efficiency.
What the hell? Can’t we even fantasize about our own industry and self-sufficiency anymore?
It’s noteworthy that the American lead in the film is John Cusack.
He’s famous for his 1989 portrayal of Lloyd Dobler — in the film “Say Anything” — who along with Ferris Bueler ranks as one of the ur-slackers of American society.
Here’s his famous quote from that film:
I don’t want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don’t want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as a career, I don’t want to do that.
Right. Very cool. Which is why, two decades later, the Chinese are saving your bacon.