Outside the Studio

Consider the achievements humanity has made in the past century. It is possible for someone who has reached age 100 today to have seen only animal powered transportation and farming to witnessing multiple landings on Mars. Technological advancement from the light bulb to smartphones and super computers is nothing short of staggering. With a few decades behind us to marvel at these changes, the disparity of life in many parts of the world has also grown glaringly obvious. Millions of people live in conditions that have changed very little from their ancestors. As the gap widens, so does the prospect for greater unrest and conflict.

So what could change social global dynamics over the next century? I recently read an interesting outlook for 3-D printing, an emerging technology that allows a computer driven printer to create three dimensional objects. The 3-D printing market, according to some industry observers, is expected to grow by 5000% in just the next five years. Consider the possibilities as the ability to create objects becomes more accessible to those in the scientific and medical fields, not to mention the average person.

3-D printing is already going well beyond being a new way to manufacture durable goods. The push is being made to print replacement human organs and food. The implications for the developing world is staggering in much the same way as cell phones revolutionized communication in areas of Africa and Asia that completely skipped landline technology.

The next century has the potential to dramatically foster longer lives and provide the food to sustain them, as long as the technology is used for positive advances. It appears that responsibility will be increasingly in the hands of ordinary individuals who will have more power to do extraordinary things.

I closely follow the trips of leaders because that’s part of reporting the news as a broadcaster. Mrs. Obama’s trip to China is no exception. She is not a leader in the sense she is a president or high ranking official. But as First Lady, she does carry importance in representing the United States and values we care about, like education.

What personally resonates with me is her itinerary. I have had the good fortune to visit the same three cities - Beijing, Xi’an and Chengdu – and set foot in the same cultural and historic places – Forbidden City, Summer Palace, the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall, terra cotta warriors, Xi’an City wall, and Chengdu Research Base.

Sometimes I wonder about the relevance of such trips, what impact Mrs. Obama could really have. I remember back a couple of years to a visit by Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to the Voice of America, and later a visit by Burmese president Thein Sein. I only caught a glimpse of each as they made their way to interviews with other journalists. But to actually see them fairly close greatly humanized for me the Burma stories I have presented on the air since.

For many young Chinese students who have been able to meet Mrs. Obama and her daughters, they have had perhaps a similar experience. Perhaps her visit will inspire them to one day visit the United States, study or build a professional career here. They certainly will never forget seeing Mrs. Obama in person and those memories can only help to build positive bridges between our nations