Thomas Friedman visited North Carolina A&T State University yesterday to lecture about his book, The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century. For those who have not read the book or were not able to attend, Friedman summarized the 10 forces that he believes flattened the world. They are as follows:
1. On November 9, 1989 the Berlin Wall, an iconic symbol of the Cold War, fell which led to German Reunification. “The walls came down and the windows came up.” Friedman stated. Metaphorically he described the “windows” as the Windows operating system. This was revolutionary because it meant we could now be authors of our own content in digital form.
2. 8/9/95-On this day Netscape went public, providing the first easy to install basically free web browser; this in turn brought the internet to the masses. This event brought the internet to life.
3. The Workflow Revolution which created inter-operable software.
The workflow revolution created new forms of collaboration, which make up numbers 4-10 of the forces that flattened the world. They are:
4. Outsourcing
6. Offshoring
8. Insourcing
9. Informing–what Friedman defines as “the ability to build and deploy your own personal supply chain — a supply chain of information, knowledge, and entertainment”(153).
10. Amplifying technologies or, “steroids” (i.e. wireless technology, file sharing, increased computer speed, etc.)
So what does all of this mean? Well there is one fact that cannot be denied–the economic playing field is being leveled. We, as individuals can globilize ourselves and compete with corporations. There is going to be a major paradigm shift. Globalization will no longer be built exclusively around white westerners; we’re shifting back to the level of the individual, the human being–big corporations will be forced to make way for us. Our voices will be heard, and changes will be made, or rather, are being made. The future is now–are you ready?
It’s easy to lose sight of all the positives that are just around the corner, when so much of the world is turning inward and clamping down. The rise of info-fundamentalism is a scary thing. But you can look at it as the response of these fossilized world views, that have no clue about their own looming extinction event.
These dinosaurs are so busy stomping a few furry rodents under foot, that they ignore the giant meteorite burning its way through the atmosphere. And as they gasp their last breath, they notice that the ground is covered with small furry critters just waiting to fill a niche.
The future indeed will be fast, cheap, and out of control.
Moore’s law and network theory are on our side.
I remember less than ten years ago owning a Smartbeep pager.(That was five years after begging my mom for one because she was convinced only drug dealers carried pagers.)
When my friends began purchasing cell phones I scoffed,” Why would I want one of those? Who needs that much access?” Now in today’s 24 hour work environment, if I don’t have mine, or have it off, I feel like I’ve gone offline in the matrix.
In 1994, I remember thinking the “information superhighway” was some kind of construction project. A little over ten years later I cannot imagine my life without e-mail. I e-mail people more than I speak to them in person.
Eyeing a brand new flat screen television at Best Buy, I am struck my the fact that it was assembled in four different countries, even if it says Made in America, and the discount that looks so attractive to me could not be possible without that low wage worker who made the screen.
It will be interesting to the cultural anthropologist to discern how this new trend will change the face of earth as we know it.
All over the world myrgation an immigration have effected the ways in which culture, and to that end art, writing, music and policy, have emerged and changed.
What does it mean to live in an economy that is more interdependent than ever before. What does it mean to live in a work world where you are expected to answer you cell phone on Saturday afternoon when you are spending time with your kids?
We now live in an age where a country can go through cultural and political changes faster than ever before, and one year feels like five.
What will it all mean? I don’t know. But it will certianly be interesting as we try to figure it out.