Preview

The World is flat

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
5346 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The World is flat
Kassandra Chang
8/21/14
Period 1
APHG Summer Writing assignment
The World is Flat
By: Thomas L. Friedman

1. What is it about the flat world that both excites Friedman and fills him with dread?
Friedman gets excited because the flattening of the world means that we as people who inhabit Earth are collecting all of our knowledge and putting it together into this worldwide network. By doing this we would start to emerge ourselves in an era of prosperity, innovation, and collaboration, by company’s communities, and individuals. Friedman states that is if terrorism and politics do not get in the way. The flattening of the world also fills him with dread both on a personal and professional level. On a more personal level it fills him with dread because with this flat world it not only opens up the playing field for the “software writers and computer geeks” to connect with each other in the workplace, but also opens up opportunities for the AL-Qaeda and many terrorist networks. Everything is being leveled to where anyone can very easily become empowered.

2. What does Friedman mean by Globalization 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0?
In the book Friedman talks about how he means that these three numbers are the specific eras in time that globalization was prevalent. Globalization 1.0 (1492 when Columbus set sail, opening trade between the “Old World” and “New World” until around 1800. This era made the world appear from a large scale to just an average medium scale. The main focus and effect of Globalization 1.0 was the competition between countries over how much muscle, horsepower, wind power, or steam power your country had and how creatively you install and carry this “muscle” out. In this era, countries found inspiration through religion and imperialism. Soon enough time led to the growth of global integration. Globalization 2.0 (around 1800-2000 interrupted by the Great Depression and World Wars). This era shrank the world from the average medium to a very small. The main focus that

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    This is a presentation about Tom Friedman’s book, called The World is Flat. Tom Friedman is a New York Times reporter and columnist who has won three Pulitzer Prizes and has had four or five bestselling books out. He gets some criticism for this book because some people think he’s a cheerleader for Globalization, and those people who are against Globalization don’t particularly like that. I think, in all fairness to Tom, although he’s very enthusiastic about his book and his subject, I think he just recognizes that, like it or not, Globalization is here, and here to stay. So maybe we need to understand it and figure out what we need to do about it, whether we think it’s good, or bad.…

    • 3319 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Friedman begins by pointing out that the world is progressively becoming flat. He states that the only way people can get the best out of the change is to be the best themselves. This means only the people best suited…

    • 386 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Diversity Audit

    • 3954 Words
    • 16 Pages

    Friedman, Thomas L. ‘2006. The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century’, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, updated and expanded, pp. 167-176…

    • 3954 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    When Friedman says the world is “flat” he means "the economy is increasingly globalized," which it is. The internet and other technologies as we all know have allowed many jobs especially…

    • 3828 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In Friedman's book, "The World Is Flat" he explains many reasons as to why he believes the world is "flat". Flat meaning connected, no boundaries,or no blockages. He believes the world has slowly been flattening due to certain events/actions which he calls "flatteners." I believe some flatteners had a greater impact on globalization in the world than others. An example of one would be flattener #1. Friedman named the first flattener, " 11/9/89 When the Walls Came Down and the Windows Went Up". On November 9, 1989 the Berlin Wall…

    • 91 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Thomas L. Friedman analyses technological advances that are making a more economic level playing field with disadvantaged countries rising in knowledge and wealth before. Countries such as China and India has mastered in telephone and computer technology to make these nations become competitive economically. As we explore America’s place in the fast-evolving world economic platform, Friedman presents not only the problems we face, but also the preventative and the possible solutions. As he moves towards the end of this presentation of his theory, Friedman warns of the forces that could seriously harm or slow the flattening of the world, particularly the threat posed by terrorist networks such as Al-Qaeda. His perspective is refreshing in a media driven largely by scare tactics and fear mongering as he encourages a realistic and objective approach to this threat. However, the world is flat is the timely and essential update on globalization, its successes and discontents, powerfully illuminated by one of our most respected journalists. Friedman repeatedly uses lists as an organizational device to communicate key concepts, usually numbered, and often with a provocative label. Two example lists are the ten forces that flattened the world, and three points of convergence…

    • 1042 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Asdf

    • 820 Words
    • 4 Pages

    6. Discuss globalization: how the world has gone from 1.0 to 2.0 to 3.0 (the three great eras of globalization according to Thomas Friedman) and how this differs from the Cold War system.…

    • 820 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In this chapter, Thomas Friedman looks at how cultures and societies will have to deal with and adapt to the changes that globalization brings to the way of doing business. It affects whole companies and individuals. He gives the perception of the world is flattening by comparing the Industrial Revolution to the IT Revolution that is happening right now. The flattening process was identified by Karl Marx and Frederich Engels in the Communist Manifesto, published in 1848. Marx’s writings about capitalism state “the inexorable march of technology and capital to remove all barriers, boundaries, frictions, and restraints to global commerce (Friedman 234).”…

    • 1319 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    While making documentaries for discovery channel, Thomas Friedman got an idea to go to call centres across the world and document young people on America’s standing. He says that Globalization took over when he was sleeping and that he couldn’t explain it. Tom travels to Bangalore and meets Nandan Nilekani who casually mentions that the world's economic playing field was being levelled. This propelled him to write a book on globalization and outsourcing called “The world is flat”.…

    • 489 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Flatland

    • 345 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Flatland is a mathematical novel combining satire with logical thoughts on the many dimensions of this world. The author, Edward A. Abbott, is playing the role of a square in this two dimensional land known as: Flatland. He is a man of mathematics and the understanding of sequences in geometry. When trying to understand geometry this novel is a clever way of interpreting the different shapes and dimensions of it.…

    • 345 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I agree with him that “the world is flat”. Because of computers and the growing technology we have today, it is easier than ever to connect with people. International business is so huge that it is a major in some colleges and a required class in most colleges. The iPhone for example, is not possible without international business because the parts are produced all over the world and the cost would be much more expensive for buyers if it was all produced in America. The world being flat helps out millions of companies around the world because of the ability to contact foreign producers to help with their business (Freedman,…

    • 1188 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In chapter 15, as the world became flat, some parts of the world remained unflat because they could not participate in the flattening process. The unflat world consisted of developing nations while the flat world consisted of developed nations. Since the unflat world could not participate, it has kept them unadvanced, stagnant, and deprived. Rural Africa, China, India, and Latin America were left behind because their nations were plagued with diseases due to their broken government system being unable to treat and prevent these conditions, which has kept these nations sick, dying, and stuck in poverty. In other parts of rural China, India, and Eastern Europe, where people were healthy but poor and stuck between the unflat and the flat world,…

    • 351 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    global approach, including Thomas L. Friedman in his book The World Is Flat, argue that…

    • 2789 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The World Is Flat Summary

    • 588 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Friedman goes on to say that he thinks free trade is a good thing in the long run because it will result in more American goods being bought by overseas markets, thus creating a need for more American jobs. His chief reason for dismissing objections is that economics is not a zero-sum game. He admits; however, that those who are low-skilled are very vulnerable to "current trends," but he expresses an abiding faith in the existence of an infinite array of human wants and needs that can endlessly fuel economic expansion. Friedman quotes Raghuram Rajan, director of research for the International Monetary Fund, who says that "everyone wins" in a world with a "bigger but more complex pie". With this new flat world there will be companies from other countries that will compete with American companies; therefore, I don't see how free trade will definitely result in more jobs for Americans in the long run. If more and more Americans are going to be at risk of losing low-skilled jobs to other workers in other countries, Americans should become embolden to seek higher education and higher-skilled jobs and compete with India and China. Chapter 6 in "The World is Flat" is about The Untouchables and Finding…

    • 588 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Flatland

    • 986 Words
    • 1 Page

    much detail as the protagonist, Square, explained the culture and many other aspects of flatland. For…

    • 986 Words
    • 1 Page
    Better Essays