The Global Village
The world is slowly but surely becoming one global village, as a result a problem arising in one corner of the world the repercussions will be felt on each and every corner of the world. Terrorism activities in Afghanistan do not only cause ripples in Afghanistan alone the rest of the world is also affected to some extent. Happenings in any corner of the world can be transmitted to the rest of the world in minutes.
The author Friedman uses the topic “Flat world” as a metaphor; the author used the term flat world to indicate the next stage of globalization. The author uses various examples to show how the world is becoming more entwined. The author focuses more on how the world economy is becoming more flat, and even how the “barriers to entry” are being broken down. In his book Friedman main attention is the United States of America and the notion that it has held for along time that they don’t need the Middle East in order to survive (Steingart, pg 220).
The “flattened world” that the author describes is a world where companies such in the United States of America can venture into the Middle East and take advantage of the low cost of production. The author gives an example of ordering food from MacDonald’s drive- through where he says that the person that takes your order do not necessarily have to be at the place where you are physically. The person who takes the order is actually based at the firms call centre in Colorado, but within a few minutes of receiving the order it is processed and it is ready by the time one gets to the pickup window. The world that Friedman talks about is a world where all countries will have goals of improving the living conditions of all the human beings on earth and not only their citizens (Steingart, pg 180).
The beneficiaries of the flat world according to the author are countries which are still developing. For decades the United States of America has dominated the world in a manner that no country has ever done before. The country has also been vocal in calling for the open markets, and trade. By putting in place such policies the developing countries will benefit the most as they will have the same market share as the developed countries. The developing countries will gain both politically and economically. He gives an example of China by stating “If China grows economically, at some point it will also gain political ambitions.” Fried man goes further and explains that economic equality and relations will play a key role in averting war between countries as no country will feel superior to the other. The author cites that major conflicts in the world especially between countries are as a result of pride (Friedman, pg 220).
The major losers in the quest for a flat world will be the developed countries. United States of America in particular will have nothing much to gain either politically or economically. The country will loose the dominance that it has held for a very long time, which means it will no longer be a superpower as it is today. The author concludes by wondering if in the quest to globalize the world, the Unites States of America forgot that they are also part of the world and need to be globalized also (Friedman, pg 230).
Globalization of the world does not necessarily mean that people will have to forget about their cultural difference and values. In the new world that Friedman proposes, the cultural differences is what will bring people together, Indians will move to America to work, and the Americans will also go to India. In the process people from the two countries will learn the cultures of each other. The world will have different cultures spread throughout the world as people will feel free to work from any part of the world. The main reason will be that all the countries will be equal in terms of development and economically, thus no country will be regarded as more developed than the other (Friedman, pg 210).
The repercussions of an equal world will be diverse; many people will have to work in their own countries as the profession that most are pursuing will be available in their own countries. Some countries such as India which is known for having very many engineers more than even the employment opportunities will have nowhere to take the many engineers (Friedman, pg 220).
The book serves as an inspiration to the citizens’ of developing countries. The book also shows the reason why the developed should strive even more in helping the developing countries. As Bill gates told Friedman “Thirty years ago, if you had to choose between being born a genius in Mumbai or Shanghai and an average person in Poughkeepsie, you would have chosen Poughkeepsie because your chances of living a prosperous and fulfilled life were much greater there. ”Now,” Gates says, ”I would rather be a genius born in China than an average guy born in Poughkeepsie.”Work Cited
Friedman, Thomas L.. The world is flat: a brief history of the twenty-first century. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005. Print.
Friedman, Thomas L.. The world is flat: the globalized world in the twenty-first century. [New ed. London: Penguin, 2006. Print.
Steingart, Gabor. The war for wealth: the true story of globalization or why the flat world is broken. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008. Print.
