In the World is Flat by Thomas Friedman,
terms such as globalization, politics and technology are brought up stating how
all these things are changing our world as we know it. He believes that the
change was initiated within the last couple of years and will continue to
expand. The title is a metaphor for viewing the world as a leveled playing field in terms of commerce, where all
competitors have an equal opportunity. Friedman seems very on the ball in his
findings, persuasive and passionate about his work.
He termed this period of time as
Globalization 3.0. Globalization influences
everyone all the time. Globalization involves economists, political
scientists, and government personnel control countless issues on social and
cultural factors
Friedman classifies ten "flatteners" that he sees
as leveling the global playing field. I thought that the most significant
factor was the first mentioned. The
first flattener is the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9th, 1989. The
event had made global capital movement/trade possible; it enabled and smoothed
over the progress of expansion in the European Union and introduced the “Euro.”
After 11/9/89 knowledge, ideas, and even economic policies could surged
freely.
I was impressed with Friedman’s writing concerning our nation becoming more and more technologically advanced, and
through creative imaginations the importance of Liberal arts is a known fact in
order to succeed.The one thing that I don’t completely agree with what Friedman
is when he mentions that the people or companies in America are lazy and are
not prepared for globalization. Which is something that I just don’t find true,
the actuality that we have been educating great minds so that our futures may
be more advanced I find is a necessity and should be continued. If we didn’t continue
these proceeds we would be limiting ourselves. Other than that I thought he
brought up some pretty good points and made a few eye-openers. The fact that he researched so much and had a large quantity
of both facts and opinions makes his work believable. You can tell through
his writing that he is passionate about what he does and has successfully got his point across.
Hey Isiah,
ReplyDeleteI would like to first start by saying that your blog was very well written and organized. I don’t necessarily agree that the fall of the Berlin Wall was the most significant flatteners, but you did make some good arguments surrounding the topic that made me rethink how I felt about the order of the flatteners. For example, when you had stated that when the wall fell it brought most of the continent of Europe together. Also I completely agree with your feeling on Friedman’s view of American people and companies. I think he is underestimating the ability that this country still has.