Chapter+10+TWIF

Chapter 10 Analysis  Sharon Wilson In chapter 10, Freidman discusses when different people or cultures first learned or realized that the world was flattening. Among some of the things he found were Mexico and Egypt losing ground to China and their ability to mass produce certain items that both those countries failed to keep up with, and Ireland showing that it had to ability to be a reforming powerhouse. According to Ireland’s Deputy Prime Minister Mary Harney, “It was because we nearly went under that we got the courage to change” (Friedman, 417). Due to Ireland’s timely changes, they are now one of the richest countries in Europe.  So how did Ireland accomplish all this? They did it through the reform of their Education system, infrastructure, governance and environment. I do agree that “capital does not just move around the world looking for the cheapest labor … It is looking for the most productive labor at the lowest price, which means that in order to attract the capital, your country has to get those four basics – infrastructure, education, governance and environment” (Friedman, 419).  With the right · Infrastructure: You can develop relationships with other countries to focus on outsourcing productivity, expanding services abroad etc. ·  Education system: We can keep our students on the “cutting edge” of technology, outsourcing, and creative critical thinking and problem solving. We would be able to keep them current with what is going on in the world around them. · Governance, a country can be led, like Ireland was, to recruit necessary people to help the country progress, reform retail and attract investments. · Environment: Unfortunately, some countries, due to either strict cultural values or religious beliefs, have been left behind in the reformation period and are now seemingly, worlds away in from the rest of us in this flat world. <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">“The more you have a culture that naturally glocalizes – that is, the more your country easily absorbs foreign ideas and global best practices and melds those with its own traditions – the greater advantage you will have in a flat world” (Friedman, 422). <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The issue that I see over the next few years is where all our jobs are being outsourced and what our poverty level is. I get that sending time consuming, redundant jobs to other countries (like the accounting to Japan) will allow a set of skilled individuals to explore new regions of their work and develop new techniques, strategies and tasks, but I would also wager to guess that any number of homeless or poverty stricken citizens of our country would be more than willing to adapt to those jobs also. Some of these people in our country are skilled professionals who just ran into some bad luck. That being said, if we continue to outsource the “mundane” jobs to individuals in organizations across the globe, where will that leave us in the next few years? <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">This brings me to the final point of education. Knowing what we now know about the outsourcing of tasks to other countries, our students today need to be that much more prepared to be thinkers instead of doers. As teachers we need to be on the “cutting edge” so that our students can be also. We need to make sure they are motivated and inspired to take on new thoughts and ideas and willing to branch out and try new things. Failure is to be expected and not frowned upon for there is something to be learned in every failed attempt. Our students need to be aware of what awaits them and willing to do the work necessary to keep our country at the top. <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">This is going to take some effort as there are many students bored with the typical, mundane, hum drum of the typical school day. Perhaps what will need to happen in our school system is less standard lessons and needing to learn this algorithm or memorize that definition. In tying these thought into understanding by design, I think we should be looking to teach backward of the way we are so used to doing. If we look at what we want the end result to be and use more performance assessments geared toward real world applications, we may be able to get more out of our students in the way of passion, determination, curiosity and drive.

Jason Solomon Curr 530 __The World is Flat__, by Thomas L. Friedman Chapter 10 Summary

The Virgin of Guadalupe

Chapter ten of Mr. Friedman’s book focuses on what polices developing, and indeed developed, countries need to undertake and implement to thrive and flourish in the flat world. He opens his chapter with two anecdotes of the flatting world. The first is how statues of the Mexican patron saint, The Virgin of Guadalupe, are now no longer made in Mexico. These statues are imported from China, illustrating how Mexico no longer finds itself as the cheapest labor pool, even when competing against itself. The second is how the traditional Ramadan lantern carried by children in Egypt, a product made domestically for hundreds of years, is no imported from china. The Chinese products are safer and of a higher degree of sophistication. The anecdote ends with the fatalism of the Egyptians in regards to competing with China. The author then launches into the factors and polices that developing countries must look into to compete in a flat world. He notes that this process is voluntary, and their must be will with in the government to enact these changes. The first set of reforms is what he calls Reform Wholesale. These are large systemic changes that governments must institute to create the right environment for business to compete. These changes are relevant because, among other things, globalization is a competition between the public sectors of different countries. These changes are meant to bring about the right educational systems, the right infrastructure, the right governance, and the right environment for the country to compete with others. He states that among these changes open and competitive markets must be established. The second set of changes that the author recommends is what he terms reform retail. These are ever-evolving and changing regulation that promotes the following: 1. The facility to start a new business. 2. The ease to hire and fire workers. 3. The ability of the state to enforce a contract. 4. The ability to get credit 5. The ability to easily close and liquidate a business to keep capital moving. Illustrating what these reforms can do Mr. Friedman holds up the example of Ireland over the last 4 decades. Ireland systematically choose to build its infrastructure and education base. They created regulations that were pro-business and actively sought investment from around the globe. The results have been a boom in economy and living standards. He also talks about the effect of culture on the process. A countries culture, and its ability to glocolize, or take on parts of other cultures and evolve to meet the demands of the age, greatly impact that countries ability to succeed. He ends with an appeal to face the fact that globalization has the greatest potential to lift large numbers of people out of poverty, what ever the other downsides it may have.