The World Is Flat: 6

The world is flat... and I couldn't be happier. Not only does the prospect of what the flattening of the world has in store for the general prosperity of the entire planet, but I myself individually have chosen a path that if everything goes right will land me in the first category of untouchables along with as the book mentions "Michael Jordan, Madonna, Elton John, J. K. Rowling, your brain surgeon, and the top cancer researcher at the national institutes of Health.". There isn't much the flat world can do to affect someones attempts to become an actor, accept to give me the opportunity to have my small independent films, which I plan to make in order to be recognized, be seen by many more people for much less money, making it that much easier for me to essentially let others know of my abilities.

As far as how my friends are affected by the flattening of the world... in all honesty I consider my friends to generally have very high intelligence, and as such I believe that they will see that it is fruitless to fight against the flattening, and will embrace it, my friends will be some of the most successful people in the flat world, of that I can assure you. The world is flat, and everyone needs to embrace it, whether they like it or not.

The World Is Flat: 5

The flat worlds effect on America will be to destroy it's superiority over all other nations, which we have comfortably assumed was our right to have for a few hundred years, by giving everyone, in every nation the same opportunities which we have taken for grant it. At first glance, this is a bad thing for America, and in many respects that is a completely true statement. The thing that we have to realize is, the question should not be whether the flat world is good for America, but whether or not the flat world is good for the entire world.

Yes, with embracing the flattening, Americans will no longer automatically have an advantage over everyone else, and yes the American economy will not be so rich, but what we need to do, is stop thinking of each nation as competing against each other (which isn't logical in the flat world), but as cooperating, as one global economy, which will undoubtedly gain a huge boost from the flattening of the world. If we do this and embrace the flattening, America will in the end benefit in that with the shear number of new minds which are now accessible, will come new technologies and ideas, for not only themselves, or even America, but the entire world to enjoy, which will never be possible if we do not embrace the flat world.

The World Is Flat: 4

The flattening of the world may be an amazing occurance, which overall in my opinion is a good thing which need be embraced, but there are however some potential downsides to it. Some people who are unable to adapt to the new world, by educating themselves in the ways necessary to survive and thrive in it, will undoubtedly get left behind, and steadily have less ability to support themselves financially.

The flattening of the world also has the potential to cut out the human factor in doing business; without the need to actually physically interact with those that you are trying to buy from, the creativity, and vision part of products, and services cease to be apparent to the consumer, and instead it becomes a purely price based decision. With that come companies like Wal-mart, which underpay its workers in order to cut their prices by fractions of cents, so as to appeal to consumers. Finally, there is the shortsighted argument that as we slowly move towards a global community we Americans lose our superiority over other nations... but I'll discuss this particular topic more in my next post.

The World Is Flat: 3

Convergence, as Friedman sees it pertaining to the flattening of the world, is simply the way in which the ten flattener's of the world came together in order to actually flatten the world. Individually each of the ten flattener's would have had a small impact on the world, but the fact that they have converged into one flattening force, means they are now able to (and have) created a world in which absolutely everyone has a level playing field. A flat world.

The World Is Flat: 2

From the first written language to instant messaging people have always sought after the technology that offered the quickest and easiest way with which to communicate and interact with each other. Until recently the speed at which communication was possible slowed the farther you were physically apart from the person you were trying to reach. Due to technological developments this is no longer the case. You can now speak instantly with anyone in the world for little to no cost.

With this comes a gigantic shift in how people interact. If you want to relay a message to a friend in Australia, you no longer need to physically write your message on paper, place that paper, in an envelope, and send it through the postal service, waiting days, weeks, or even months, for that friend to receive your letter, and then wait another equally long time to receive your friends reply; you now do this instantly from anywhere you want by pulling out any number of wireless devices which can now conveniently fit in your pocket, and typing your friend this same message, and being able to receive a response within a few seconds.

Personally this creates opportunities to interact with people you never would have been able to. Internationally this creates the ability to interact with other countries without all the hassle of slow communication, in that instead of spending time to wait for replies on things such as peace treaties, and trade barriers, governments can now much more quickly resolve (or create) problems. Economically this allows a number of things, one, both large corporations and individuals have the ability to reach a global consumer base, instead of only those in their general area, greatly increasing the chance for a single entrepreneur to become successful (provided he knows how to take advantage of the flat world); and two, it allows people to be able to access the abilities of everyone in the world, such as the number of technical graduates in India, in order to create a much higher rate of productivity, in that you can have the best minds from all over the world, not just the ones in your small community. What it all comes down to really, are two things, the speed at which anyone can communicate, and the ability of a single person to be heard anywhere.

The World Is Flat: 1

The world is flat. This simple statement is completely and utterly false looking at it in a literal sense, however Friedman (an amazing human being, I must say) uses it as a way of symbolizing the fact that because of technical advances it no longer matters where you are in the world, you can now communicate, do business with, and share ideas with anyone else in the world. There are no longer any barriers in how far one individuals voice can be heard. You no longer are limited by the resources of your community, or rather you still are, but your community is now the entire globe, or more appropriately the entire slab. The world is flat.