In a way one could say the world is flattening, but I feel that gives a false understanding of what is occurring. There are most definitely hubs of production across the world that are reaching a level playing field. However, as it has always been the case those hubs are surrounded by areas that are not seeing the same progress.Friedman talks about Bangalore, India as one of his examples of a flattening world.To the outsider Bangalore looks like a sprawling and thriving city, yet right outside is settlements of highly impoverished people.
Durban, South Africa is another example of a beautiful thriving city encompassed in poverty, if one was to explore out past the lovely area of the city, they would find an expansive settlement of shack dwellers who have "No Land, No House, No Vote" and there for are ignored by the government in the planning of developments to "fix" their living situation.
These are not rare examples.
I feel as though there are rising hubs of power in developing countries. I fully understand that the playing field is never really even, in any country that is working under a capitalistic economy. However it just kind of irks me, because in my head I translate "flat" to "even", which I suppose is not the way he means it.
I do however really like Friedman's outline of the three stages of Globalization.
Globalization 1.0 : Where does my country fit in
Globalization 2.0: Where does my business fit in
Globalization 3.0: Where do I fit in
It is a nice way to boil down what has occurred since the advent of colonization.
No comments:
Post a Comment