The World Is Flat

I am familiar with Thomas Friedman's work, both his books and his regular media appearances and columns. I cannot say that he's ever impressed me; his observations are usually banal, his conclusions always march with elite opinion, and his analyses are shallow at best.

This applies to the segment of The World Is Flat that we've been asked to read. The global workday is 24/7, work can be done from anyone via the internet, all the world's 'knowledge pools' are becoming connected. Man, this is banal. It didn't take computers to accomplish these things; for centuries, communications have gotten faster and people more connected- but he doesn't seem to know how connected they were even in, say, Roman times whenempires stretched across Eurasia. World trade (compared to the world's GDP) still hasn't reached its pre-World War I peak. China and India have been taking manufacturing jobs for decades; what's different is that now Friedman's white-collar readers find themselves threatened by the brown and yellow hordes. (Yes, he's about that subtle.)

I cannot say that he's changed my perspective in any way or given me any knowledge I didn't already know. I only agree with the most basic of his observations, and generally don't find his writing at all impressive or persuasive, especially since he drraws no useful conclusions.