The World is Flat
It appears that Ptolemy, Eratosthenes, and Pliny the Elder were wrong after all. The world is flat and actually getting flatter. Perhaps not in a physical sense (I suppose definitions are important), but certainly in an individual's ability to contact, communicate, and compete with other individuals on the globe.
This isn't just my idea. More accurately, I'm quoting Thomas Friedman and his book, (coincidentally) "The World is Flat. Ever since the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, the world has been getting progressively smaller. Countries, companies, and individuals within countries now have new opportunities that could not have existed more than 10 years ago.
Because billions of people are becoming a part of the competing system of capitalism, the contest to get any job becomes more difficult. Outsourcing of jobs, the "giant sucking sound" of capital, factories, and labor to other countries that can do the same job quicker, better, or cheaper, raises the question, what is the U.S. to do to stay on top?
Our economy certainly is in good shape. It continues to create wealth, expand, and benefit its consumers; however, very soon it will be overtaken. Our economy is running fine, other economies (like China and India) are on fire.
We can't race these economies to the bottom; we cannot simply produce goods and services for less cost like other countries can. If you can get three software engineers in India for the price of one in America, why not go for three? America must therefore continue to race economies upward. We must continue to use innovation, imagination and invention to create new a better technologies.
In order to keep America on top, we must first move upward as individuals. Education is the rocket ship in this medium. As individuals we need to educate ourselves in order to be more competitive in the global marketplace. The second, and just as important, move is horizontal. As Americans approach the higher rungs of the educational ladder, individuals need to branch out horizontally. This lateral moving requires depth and breadth of understanding in order to make yourself employable even as the marketplace moves and rearranges around you.
At this point, America as a whole is lagging behind. It seems that too many people take a good job with lifetime employment for granted. This lazy man is competing against Indian and Chinese "Zippies" who are eager and determined to succeed. They have drive. For example, if you are a "one in a million" in China, you need to remember that there are 1,300 other people just as gifted as you are.
Therefore, this is a call to action. Get an education, work hard, compete hard, think hard, imagine hard, and play hard. Remember, the playing field of global economics and politics is being flattened. Where will you be?
This isn't just my idea. More accurately, I'm quoting Thomas Friedman and his book, (coincidentally) "The World is Flat. Ever since the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, the world has been getting progressively smaller. Countries, companies, and individuals within countries now have new opportunities that could not have existed more than 10 years ago.
Because billions of people are becoming a part of the competing system of capitalism, the contest to get any job becomes more difficult. Outsourcing of jobs, the "giant sucking sound" of capital, factories, and labor to other countries that can do the same job quicker, better, or cheaper, raises the question, what is the U.S. to do to stay on top?
Our economy certainly is in good shape. It continues to create wealth, expand, and benefit its consumers; however, very soon it will be overtaken. Our economy is running fine, other economies (like China and India) are on fire.
We can't race these economies to the bottom; we cannot simply produce goods and services for less cost like other countries can. If you can get three software engineers in India for the price of one in America, why not go for three? America must therefore continue to race economies upward. We must continue to use innovation, imagination and invention to create new a better technologies.
In order to keep America on top, we must first move upward as individuals. Education is the rocket ship in this medium. As individuals we need to educate ourselves in order to be more competitive in the global marketplace. The second, and just as important, move is horizontal. As Americans approach the higher rungs of the educational ladder, individuals need to branch out horizontally. This lateral moving requires depth and breadth of understanding in order to make yourself employable even as the marketplace moves and rearranges around you.
At this point, America as a whole is lagging behind. It seems that too many people take a good job with lifetime employment for granted. This lazy man is competing against Indian and Chinese "Zippies" who are eager and determined to succeed. They have drive. For example, if you are a "one in a million" in China, you need to remember that there are 1,300 other people just as gifted as you are.
Therefore, this is a call to action. Get an education, work hard, compete hard, think hard, imagine hard, and play hard. Remember, the playing field of global economics and politics is being flattened. Where will you be?
posted by Matt Pitchford at 21:49
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