Silferts tells me that some people read this blog from some other place, where you cannot see the book right above these words. Therefore, she says, rather than knowing the title and author and cover design, they just get “this book”.
I had no idea. I’m terribly sorry. I am going to tell you from now on what book it is that I am talking about. In this case, it is The World is Flat, by Thomas Friedman. Friedman continues to be dull, but he also continues to be cheerful, which I like. In the part that I am reading now, however, he is acknowledging that there are some concerns. He mentions that Marx predicted some of the points he is making, and that some people say he is just giving a nicer name to phenomena which have been around for a while (I know that his discussions reminded me of the 19th century many times).
His response is to suggest that part of this new world is the necessity to “sort out” our multiple viewpoints. As consumers, he says, we like Wal-mart’s efficiency (though I have noticed that consumers don’t like the lack of choice and the death of local businesses attendent upon it), but as workers we dislike their ruthlessness and as citizens we dislike their taxpayer subsidies (in the form of Medicaid, subsidized housing, food stamps, and other such assistance for their workers). He does similar analyses of outsourcing to India and Mexico. It is hard to tell, he says, who is exploiting whom.
I have not finished the whole section, but it appears that his position is basically that the newly flattened earth allows everyone to exploit everyone else, if they are clever enough, so it is all fair and okay. He also seems to have faith that things will end up being better in some unspecified way that will bring prosperity to all the world’s people. At this point, I am reminded of the Middle Ages, when each young man (assuming that he was born into a position that allowed it) could set out with his lance to seek his fortune, perhaps vanquishing three dragons and winning the hand of a princess along the way.
In the real world, I am sewing shopping carts, singing Handel, still on Sleeve Island, preparing for the weekend trip to fetch #2 daughter, and — the big deal for today — helping #2 son bake traditional chocolate eclairs from scratch for his French class.
Yum!
Oh, dear. Are we headed for peasant morality? In college, as part of my Anthropology minor, I took a class called Peasant Society. It was put forth that it is a part of peasant culture to try to exploit or take advantage of one another. It is your job, as a peasant, to stand up and defend your rights, because if you don’t, you will lose them. It is also your job to try to get as much off of everyone else as you can.
Example: You are going into town, and I ask you to mail a letter for me. I give you $1 to do so. You do it, but when you return, you try to keep the change. If I do not demand my 61 cents from you, and receive it, I not only lose my 61 cents, but also my standing in the community.
I have to admit, this horrifies me. I have always been more of an Anglo (?) treat everyone fairly, upstanding type of person. Or is that Christian “do unto others” and “turn the other cheek”?
I don’t know if peasants exist anymore. But it only stands to reason that as the world becomes more flat, cultural scuffles are bound to happen.
In hindsight, I guess that’s corporate morality too, isn’t it?
I’m reading “Blink” and that author would tell Friedman that we only need 2-3 minutes (sometimes seconds) to grasp what is going on. We don’t really need all the analysis – we already know within moments. (Both authors obviously “need” to sell books!)
So anyways, my gut tells me that it the future is too complicated to figure out with any accuracy and instead I just need to have a number of contingency plans (a,b,c). One of my plans is to get my kids to learn a couple asian languages. But there is the rub… I can hardly get my kids to pick up their room! I wonder what Mr. Friedman has to say about the future chances of children keeping their romm picked up? (i’m being silly here – no disrespect to Friedman)
Thanks for the review of the book! It’s good to know what he wrote.
Exploitation of resources, human or otherwise, is an entrenched part of our history. I think almost every culture has had its turn at exploiting others. I can think only of two possible exceptions – the Kalahari Bushmen, nearly extinct and, in my view at least, one of the treasures of our planet – a truly happy people apparently (perhaps happiness is not conducive to survival of a species) – and the Australian Aborigines who had to spend all their time fighting for survival in the Australian Outback – no time for exploitation of resources.