The Lexus and the Olive Tree (passage read by Julie Baldwin Mason)

A short passage from Thomas Friedman’s “The Lexus and the Olive Tree” (2000),
read by Julie Baldwin Mason on Saturday night of the 50th reunion. It’s about us.

This is from “The Lexus and the Olive Tree,” Thomas Friedman’s book about globalization, which was published in 2000. I am sure just about everyone here tonight has read it. In it, Friedman draws the analogies of the Lexus, the automobile, which I’m sure many of you own, to the human drive for enrichment and achievement and excellence, and he likens the olive tree to the human need for identity and community and belonging and roots.

Here it is:

“Olive trees are important. They represent everything that roots us, anchors us, identifies us, and locates us in this world – whether it be belonging to a family, a community, a tribe, a nation, a religion, or, most of all, a place called home.

“Olive trees are what give us the warmth of family, the joy of individuality, the intimacy of personal rituals, the depth of private relationships, as well as the confidence and security to reach out and encounter others.

“We fight so intensely at times over our olive trees because, at their best, they provide the feelings of self-esteem and belonging that are as essential for human survival as food in the belly.

“Indeed, one reason that the nation-state will never disappear, even if it does weaken, is because it is the ultimate olive tree – the ultimate expression of whom we belong to – linguistically, geographically, and historically.

“You cannot be a complete person alone. You can be a rich person alone. You can be a smart person alone. But you cannot be a complete person alone.

“For that you must be a part of, and rooted in, an olive grove.”

For us – Winter Park is our olive grove.