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A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century“In China today, Bill Gates is Britney Spears. In America today, Britney Spears is Britney Spears – and that is our problem.” - Thomas Friedman, in The World Is Flat
Perhaps those words don’t exactly capture the gist of Thomas Friedman’s latest book on globalization, The World Is Flat; yet they do hammer home one of the supporting points he makes – that America must wake up from its current educational and scientific slumber if it hopes to compete in the flat (and very competitive) world of the twenty-first century. In a sequel of sorts to The Lexus and the Olive Tree, Friedman describes the current version of globalization – Globalization 3.0 to continue the parlance of his previous book – as a process that is “flattening” the world. We citizens of that world have suddenly found that everything is connected, that barriers to communication and information access have been shattered. Individuals – thanks to what Friedman describes as the “ten flatteners” (including everything from the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Netscape IPO to open-sourcing, outsourcing, offshoring, and supply-chaining) – are becoming empowered in new ways at new levels in new corners of the world. Competition and cooperation are bound to increase. After describing how and why the planet has suddenly become flat, Friedman assesses America’s readiness to compete in a flat world. He defends outsourcing and offshoring as ultimately good (though challenging) for America as well as her sister nations. He also discusses what it will take for workers to compete in a flat world and proposes that America is in the midst of a quiet crisis: flagging motivation among the country’s youth, decreasing numbers of graduates in the sciences and math, and a simple lack of urgency to acknowledge and address the challenges of our day. “This is not a test,” he repeatedly implores. We need to see the present situation as a mandate to get off our duffs and on to work. (He even proposes that W might have his JFK moment by initiating a nation-wide mission to make America energy-independent within a decade.) Finally, Friedman addresses how developing countries fit into this flat world of ours, how companies can responsibly address the present situation, and how geopolitical forces both affect and are affected by “flatism.” Imagination, he concludes, is America’s strength and hope. Among the reasons I liked The World is Flat is that it mandates action. Friedman sees great possibilities for America to improve itself, for its people to improve themselves, for people in other nations to improve themselves – in part because of the tools a flat world enables. He pulls no punches in his criticism of the Bush administration and suggests that both politicians and parents bear responsibility for inspiring and encouraging our youth. He mandates practical action. While the book is “America-focused” in certain ways, there is a great deal of discussion about both India and China. Friedman does touch upon the situation in the developing world, though not as much as I’d like. Perhaps we need another book focused solely upon how globalization is affecting the world’s poorest and least-empowered – and what the most fortunate among us can do to make the flattening processes at work today work to their benefit. As the creator of this site, I'd be remiss not to mention another significant issue with this flat world of ours: its tendency to destroy or weaken diversity and culture. Forces of "globalization" often include much "Westernization" (some would say, "Americanization"). While the rest of the world could benefit by embracing certain aspects of Western culture, the beauty and strengths of other cultures cannot be lost. Friedman touches upon this and recognizes the challenge. Yet potential solutions remain unexplored. Friedman has in the past been criticized by some for being too optimistic about globalization. Certainly, his is an optimistic voice on the subject, yet he doesn’t shy away from acknowledging a need to explore how globalization is impacting the world’s poor and disenfranchised. He even suggests that the “anti-globalization movement” is much-needed right now but requires a “coherent agenda for assisting the poor by collaborating with them in a way that could actually help them.” Stones being thrown through McDonald’s windows do little to make globalization better and fairer for everyone, he proposes. While I do wish the book included more detailed discussion about the negative aspects of this flat world of ours (and Globalization 3.0), I tend to agree that we’re dealing with inexorable processes. Globalization is the way the world is changing. Can we – and should we – fight to make it as fair and beneficial to the smallest and least empowered in our ranks? Certainly. Can we – and should we – fight to prevent the world from being run solely by CEOs whose only true loyalties lie with their stockholders (and perhaps themselves)? Yes. But we’ve got to learn how to use our changing world to do so. In my opinion, we don’t need an “anti-globalization” movement. We need a “better and fairer globalization” movement. We need a movement that explores what steps should be taken to preserve culture, to prevent the forces of globalization from wiping out the diversity that enriches our world (and we’d better get on it right away). I digress. Arundhati Roy and Noam Chomsky have a number of valid points (and their books may ultimately be seen in this space as well), but so does Thomas Friedman. Don’t dismiss this book if you’re “anti-globalization;” if fact, don’t miss this book if that’s the case! << Find this Book on Amazon.com >>
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![[Book Cover Page: The World Is Flat]](images/books/the-world-is-flat.jpg "The World Is Flat")