In the last report for this book (finally 630 pages is a lot), Friedman starts off with a section about the effect of a flat world on culture. The commonly believed effect is that globalization will cause Americanization where everyone speaks English and adapts to American culture but Friedman points out that this is likely not to be the case. I agree and understand what he is saying. He is saying that as countries enter the flat world and begin to “play” that there will be less pressure or need for people to leave their home countries in order to get proper schooling or opportunities so that culture of those people has a better probability of being retained. In the past it was only America dealing globally so their culture was being injected into other countries but now with more players in the game more countries can inject bits of their culture while protecting it by not being pushed to leave for the benefits of education and opportunity. Not only is culture being equalized and diversified but so the flow of investment. Gone are the times where it was only America and Europe investing their capital globally but other countries like India and China are now doing that as well. The next section is titled, if it’s not happening it’s because you’re not doing it. This was kind of complicated but I think it just means that in order for something to happen you have to get the initiative to do something. They talked about Wal-Mart and McDonalds and how with their respective reputations they have the ability to help the world by instilling standards that provide the best quality and safeness for the environment. Friedman also mentioned how social entrepreneurs could now with the flat world easily access the global collective that they need to get their message out there and accepted by that collective. Once the belief gets accepted by enough then it almost forces the company to make the change requested in order to stay afloat. Continuous improvement within collaborations will help to improve quality standards as well as efficiency within the companies supply chain. The next section brings up how that with so many uses of technology that we may be far away when we are very close. For example say you’re sitting right next to someone but you’re both on your phones, doing separate things when you’re really close together. It’s interesting because this can already be seen and it raises another issue, law. As the ease of access to the world increases and the ability to post your thoughts and anything to the internet, the current legal system that we have isn’t built to handle the technological copyright and infringement occurrences that are so readily seen today. Friedman stresses that as the internet and global technology continues to increase in its importance and availability the legal system will have to make the necessary changes in order to be sustainable. Friedman next talks about some of the things that are keeping the world from becoming completely flat. He labels them the too sick, too disempowered, too frustrated, and too many Toyotas. The too sick are those who can’t access the flat world because they are too sick to do so. The too disempowered are those who live within a flat world but don’t have access to the tools, skills, or infrastructure to make in impact. The too frustrated are those who feel threatened by the flat world and therefore act out, like suicide bombers for example. The too many Toyotas group is a tad different, Friedman describes this as the most crucial downside to the flattening of the world, and that is the waste. With everyone coming up to the same level then per capita consumption and waste will be at an all time high which will threaten our natural resources and environment. Friedman then turns to a theory he has developed called the Dell Theory of Conflict Prevention. He states with this that if two countries are intertwined by a supply chain and that both countries rely on each other that they will never come to war against each other because of the risk of damage to their resources. I found this interesting but yet as far as never happening is hard to believe. I’m sure that under a certain set of circumstances something could cause a war between two intertwined countries. The biggest test of this theory is currently Taiwan versus China and how their economic relationship is preventing war currently. With the book now over I just want to take a little time to discuss how I felt about the book. I thought it was highly theoretical, inspiring, and brutally honest. I believe in the content of the book and Friedman did a great job proving his points. The world is changing and America needs to be ready. We can’t let 9/11 close our doors and cause us to fight the flat world; we will be left behind. There are good and bad things that come along with the flattening of the world and while we need to embrace the good we also need to protect against the bad which I feel like as a country we can do. We just need to get our infrastructure under us to support the things that we need it to.
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