Chapters 15, 16, 17

I am sorry, but the beginning of Chapter 15 really upset me. I think that Friedman made a bad example when he compared gun laws to cell phones. Does this author not realize that people are responsible, not the guns themselves. I would rather be around a person that is trained in handling a firearm and that has a concealed carry permit than an idiot that has no idea what the heck they are doing. He could have compared the "no cell phone" sign to the "no shirt no shoes" type of sign.

I agree with Friedman when he writes about the rulers of countries that do not listen to their people and only pay attention to how much oil they are drilling. However, in my opinion, I think that the US should start to find oil deposits here on our land. That way we are not dependent on other countries to provide it for us and maybe those other countries will start to "tap into their people".

I will have to say that I understand where Friedman is coming from on some issues about outsourcing and technology, but I am glad I am through with this book because I am tired of him plugging his one sided opinions. However, I am glad that he ended the book with the message that the most important competition is now with ourselves; so that we can make sure we are always striving to get the most out of our own imaginations and then acting on them.

One other thing I want to add...my feedback on eBay is 41 (100 % positive) and I have a gold star, WHOO HOO!

Chapters 12, 13, 14

Friedman had talked about if people really wanted to change the world, they would just go and do it because the internet provides a "global audience". I agree with the author about this because instead of just giving someone money, your inspiring them to do something better with their lives. His example in the book was about how bankers gave beggars $10 so that they could either keep begging or buy toys and try and sell them, which ended up getting the beggars inspired and stop being beggars. This leads me to a great quote that he mentioned in the book that just says it all, "Feed a person a fish and you have fed that person for only a day, Teach a person to fish and you have fed that person for a lifetime, Help that person grow a fishing business and you will have fed not only his family but also half the village". I would have only thought to the second point, but he made me realize that there is a point beyond that.

Going on to the next chapter, the author talks about how technology has brought us together, but it has also divided us. My husband and I went on vacation once (and I mean once), we found a b&b in the mountains and there was no cell phone signal, no internet, no tv, and no radio! If we wanted to hear from anyone, we had to drive a couple of miles into town to call. Once you experience it, you won't want to go back. It was great in a way because we had to learn how to entertain each other :) and it got us thinking about how to survive without certain types of technology...which we ended up forgetting about once we got home!

The part that I loved the best about these chapters was in Chapter 12 (probably because I'm Italian) Friedman compared the flat-world platform to pizza dough...if you think about it, it's true!

Chapters 9, 10, 11

In chapter 9, Friedman talks about what everyone needs to do...now. "This is not a test" is truly what it means, we are at a point where Americans need to step up and take responsibility and not sit on the side lines because if we don't do it now, someone else will.

When the author talked about Parenting, it really struck a nerve with me. These are all of the things that I have been worried about with my own children. Technology has taken over, instead of books giving children their imagination, there is the TV doing the work for them.
That is why my husband and I are trying to raise our children in the "traditional" way. For example, when they want something from the store, they have to earn the money to buy it, or they have to try and make it themselves. This year we have started a vegetable garden so that they can learn how hard it is to grow something... (and also so that they will eat "their" veggies).
Maybe if we teach them that they have to fend for themselves now, they will be stronger in the future when they will have to compete with the Chinese.
In chapter 10, Friedman talked about things being cheaper to produce in China. Going back to traditional ways, for Christmas, we are trying to make it more like Thanksgiving... have a lot of family over and a big dinner. We are trying to teach them that family is the most important thing, not the materialistic items that they want today.
Most likely though, this isn't traditional anymore, traditional is most likely buying a bunch of plastic items that was made from China and overwhelming children so that they don't know what to play with first.

(Sorry, after reading this I feel like I was ranting!)

Chapters 6, 7, 8

Chapter 6 was all about the middle class jobs that are untouchable, at least for the moment. High end and low end jobs will not go away because someone will always have to do those jobs, whether by an American or by a foreigner. If I am going to adapt to the flat world, I would say that I am going to be a "passionate personalizer, math lover, and great synthesizer". I think that I will be able to make things work together, throw some math in it and put my personal touch on it!

In chapter 7, the author explains in five steps how we need to educate our people to get ahead. First, to learn how to learn you need the right teacher. I agree with this to a point, there are some pretty tough teachers out there that have a lot to give. Learning takes practice, no matter who is teaching. Second, learn how to navigate - sift, sort, and cross-check, then pick out the real facts. I definitely agree with this, probably because I do it all the time. When we started reading this book, I cross-checked some of the information and found out that it was true. Third, having passion and curiosity is better than just an IQ. I also believe this because no matter how intelligent a person is, if they don't like what they are doing they aren't going to get very far. Forth, get a liberal arts education or a flat form of education. I agree with this to a point, I think that it is important for the general education of an undergraduate degree to be mainly liberal arts. Fifth, do what you love to do to nurture the right side of your brain. This goes back to having passion and curiosity, do what you love to do because if you don't, you won't get anywhere.

In chapter 8, the author talks about gaps (or dirty secrets) that are threatening America. He explains where we are lacking and what we need to do to get it right. I think that it does start with education and ambition, but I also believe that it should start with parents' educating and inspiring their children since ultimately it's their responsibility how their children turn out.

Chapters 3, 4, 5

In chapter 3, the author talked about his experience with Southwest Airlines (which I thought was hilarious). He talked about going to the kiosk to print his ticket to try to get on the plane first (globalization 2.0), but there were people that had printed their ticket from a home computer (globalization 3.0). I remember when that technology was “new” and then wondering how long ago this book was written (2006)! Technology definitely saves time.

Talking about new technologies, the first time that I heard about Skype was listening to Clark Howard on WSB radio. I remember him saying that this service is going to change the world, although most people don't know it yet... (more like American's don't know about it yet)! American's are far behind on a lot of things. In this example, someone from across the globe came up with the technology/idea and an American company (eBay) buys them out. In my opinion, this country has turned into a country of consumption. We lack in education and have outsourced most of our manufacturing.
This leads me to Chapter 4 when the author talks about “Who Owns What”….I believe the author is right about the legal barriers of intellectual property. How can one person’s intellectual property be protected when someone else uses that person’s invention to replicate and distribute another product? Who benefits…obviously the one that got the new product! This book is probably available in an international edition and the author gets no benefit.

I also thought this was very important to talk about…the author tells a very sad story about a soldier that was killed in Iraq and the family wanting his Yahoo email password so that they can remember him in his own words. Yahoo refused and said it was in there policy that the account contents terminate upon death. The author had pointed out that more and more communication is digitized and it will all be lost unless someone sorts it out. I think I will start taking the time to write out more letters to my family and friends instead of dropping an email now and then, or at least have duplicate copies. One thing I remember from my business law class, document everything!

(I posted now after realizing I only saved it)

The World is Flat Chapters 1 & 2

The first word that comes to mind is.... WOW! I never knew some of the things that were mentioned in this book. I have been looking into accounting and marketing careers thinking that I could just hide behind a desk and not deal with many people face to face, and instead I will have to compete with people in other countries where there are more graduates per year and where they are paid less for the same work. Pretty overwhelming! I have been so naive; I was thinking I would only have to compete with people in this region, not the whole world!

The author has stressed that everyone is finally on a level playing field (meaning the world is flat). It doesn't matter how big or small a business is or where they are located, the work can be done by someone across the globe. It kind of reminds me of Darwin's "Survival of the Fittest"...

I had always thought that companies had night shifts to do the work that the day shifts did not do, not realizing that they are probably outsourcing the work to India or China.

My husband always tells me "don't believe everything you read"...so I had to do my own research. I found that all of the examples the author gave are accurate and found a lot of good information that is not on the news or on the front page of the paper. Here are some of the articles that I found:

Some US farms outsourced to Mexico - Yahoo News
Are colleges preparing graduates for evolving job market - AJC
Life outsourced - CNN

After reading these chapters, I would have to say that the phrase/quote that sums it up the best is, "You are always taking an examination. There is no end to learning...There is no real end to what can be done by whom".