The World Is Flat

11/9 Versus 9/11

2007-06-06T18:10:00.000-07:00

“The flattening of the world, as I have tried to demonstrate in this book, has presented us with new opportunities, new challenges, new partners, but also, alas, new dangers, particularly as Americans” (p. 570). Thomas Friedman goes to extreme links in the final pages of his book to express his concerns for the “flattening of the world.” One of his greatest concerns is the dichotomy of two distinct dates. Friedman states that “these two dates represent the two competing forms of imagination at work in the world of today: the creative imagination of 11/9 and the destructive imagination of 9/11” (p. 540). Each of which he discusses thoroughly in the chapter 11/9 Versus 9/11.

What comes to pass in these last thirty pages is a distinct admiration for the 11/9 innovations that have come to pass. Friedman focuses on one of his points being that virtual communities, like the one associated with e-bay, are helping develop positive relationships and a strong global community. Once again declaring that the flattening of the world is a great and wonderful thing.

Finally what was interesting to me was that Friedman chose to express how disappointing it was to acknowledge the fear and dread associated with dropping his daughter off at college. “I felt like I could still promise my daughter her bedroom back, but I couldn’t promise her the world—not in the carefree way that I had explored it when I was her age. That really bothered me. Still does” (p. 570). Finally, Friedman acknowledges that the rapid technological changes occurring in our world are not driving an interlinked community based on security and sustainability, but rather a system governed by exploitation and greed.

Each generation in America has presented the question of what do we do next? The values we administer in our youth will govern them to adult hood, but they will not ensure their moral commitment to a global society. In regard to the generational question of what comes next I think Thomas Friedman summed it up well when he stated “the world is being flattened. I didn’t start it and you can’t stop it, except at great cost to human development and your own future. But we can mange it, for better or for worse. If it is to be for better, not for worse, then you and your generation must not live in fear of either terrorists or of tomorrow. . . you can flourish in this flat world, but it does take the right imagination and the right motivation” (p. 271).

The Great "Sorting Out"

2007-05-14T14:27:00.000-07:00

Thomas Friedman focus a great amount of energy in connecting the “sorting out” period that is coming to pass with his ten original flatteners. “The triple convergence” chapter helps interlink his first chapters with the “sorting out” stage. Each “convergence” is underlined as a necessity for how changing technology is able to transform a society.

Friedman marvels at capitalism, its process, its place in the global market economy, and produces the perspective that capitalism will break down “walls” or the distinct social divides of the nation-state. This is an idealistic presumption at best. The reason I state this is because Friedman himself acknowledged the possible negative impacts of the flattening world when he had a discussion with political theorist Michael J. Sandel. According to Sandel the flattening of the world “may, as you suggest, be good for global business. Or it may, as Marx believed, augur well for proletarian revolution” (Friedman, 237).

As the “sorting out” continues, Friedman begins to focus America’s role, or the diminishing role, associated with business and economic superiority. The hardest part will be the distinction between were business, communities and the individual’s “start and stop.” Friedman states the following: “in a flat world, the tensions among our identities as consumers, employees, citizens, taxpayers, and shareholders are going to come into sharper and sharper conflict.” The word conflict fits the tension that is growing in the world perfectly.

In Friedman’s book so far he seems to be under the presumption that majority of the world is ready for such rapid changes. However, if you acknowledge the great political divide in our own country you must come to the realization that unity requires interconnectedness. That interconnectedness may come from “the flattening of the world,” but I tend to agree with Karl Marx’s notion that “the flattening of the world” is setting the stage for a “proletarian revolution.” Friedman discusses how outsourcing will transform the working population in the United States and that adaptable educated American workers will overcome and change career fields to fit the expanding needs the global society.

This notion does not take into consideration the individual that is not willing to reform. Poverty often produces a very angry and powerful voice. Throughout history individuals with the ability to mobilize and organize an angry mob have great influence in changing society. If the “flattening of the world” does not keep pace with the demands of society we may see a division from the business perspective of “trimming all the fat.” As a society we must be ready for the changes to come, but the pace must be governed for what the majority of the population is ready for. Often Friedman talks about the rapid advancements in China and India because of technology. What he tends to neglect is the various nations that technology has had a negative affect on. Various nation-states in Africa and South America are perfect examples of how citizens were not prepared for the technologies they received and it has resulted in civil war, depletion of resources, mass hunger, and a variety of problems associated with the downfall of their society.

Post #1

2007-04-30T15:34:00.000-07:00

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?