Post #1

The World Is Flat

Thomas Friedman

“If the prospect of this flattening—and all of the pressures, dislocations, and opportunities accompanying it—makes you uneasy about the future, you are neither wrong nor alone.” Thomas Friedman discusses the many aspects of the technological change that is “flattening the world” in his opening chapter. Friedman uses McDonald's current experimentation with an distanced ordering service as a marking stone for how companies are looking for faster, more economical, and precise ways to govern their business.

The opening pages in this book are enticing and very philosophical. It interlinks the technological history of our many societies and how that has changed the world’s ability to function. The alarming part of our current technological advancements is the rapid pace at which technology is consistently changing. Majority of the energy from this book is focused on the business side of things.

High-end economics and the global market economy are elaborated upon in various regions spanning from China, Japan, India and the United States. Each geographical area gave Friedman the opportunity to connect his ideas of “flattening” with the current statistical data. He referenced India’s high output of MBA’s and China’s ambitious nature to learn the “big foreign manufacturers” step-by-step process. Each instant entices the reader to believe that there is a reason, other than shear economics, for outsourcing and that in order for America to keep its economical dominance we must push for a more technologically adapt education system. Basically we need to keep up with the times or be left behind. Friedman’s inability to comment on high suicide rates in these foreign countries and their monolithic culture is a downfall that creates hesitance to his validity. Truthfully, a highly business driven society cannot create a well-rounded person. Instead it creates an individual consumed by greed and competition.

In the second chapter of Thomas Friedman’s book, “The World Is Flat,” he begins to elaborate on the chain of events that has inspired the technological revolution that is currently underway. Ten major events are categorized according to importance for the flattening of the world. Each of which I will not discuss because the chapter does an excellent job in explaining the importance. The connection however, between each event is worthy of paraphrasing. The connection is simple: faster communication. The ability to communicate between people and technology, technology and technology, and people and people has grown with each “flattener,” thus producing a very fast moving interlinked society.

The concern or fear I have is the level of mastery that individuals posses over the rapidly changing technology. There is no question that societies are built around constant stabilities like economics, resources, and governance. If technology spirals out of control and the citizens who use it do not fully understand its capabilities or limits will systems fail? If our focus is just to educate people to work the series of systems then who will be our troubleshooters when the individuals who developed and truly understand the technology are gone? What implications will the “flattening of the world” truly have on our society and how fast can society adapt with such specific rapid advancements?