SELECTIVE VISION

Reading through Thomas Friedman's "The World is Flat", I was very enthused to hear his perspective and to contemplate the many excellent observations he makes about the multiple convergences shaping our current world economy. Of particular interest was the observation that these technologies arrive at exactly the right time to empower the newly democratizing (and therefore available) populations of China, Eastern Europe, and India. However, I was also simultaneously suspicious that his is a simplistic and selective interpretation of events. True, many of the forces he describes do exist and are not likely very different than the way he describes them, but so far, half way through the book, he isn't giving much or any discussion time to the negative impacts this "flatening" is having on the poorer non-western cultures that are supposedly benefiting.

I'm certain Postman would jump to point out that the technologies Friedman lists as flattening forces come at a cost. As discussed in Howard Rheingold's blog posting we read this week, being accessible at all times is both empowering and enslaving. To the Indian or Chinese call center worker who must change their name or fake an american accent, there is probably some sense of compromising one's own identity or culture. Indian and Chinese citizens must be starting to grapple with the effects of personal info data mining, identity theft, or other digitally enabled crimes, and I can imagine that the respective governments are less prepared or responsive to protecting the consumer compared with the US.