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All about the flat world

I sometimes wonder, whether the New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman was born in India or China in last janam. He writes so pro-India anti-Bush. I got this suspition in his weekly columns in Indian Express ( This kinda stuff you won't find in ToI). And when I read his best-seller ' The World is Flat', my suspition has got stronger.

The book revolves around the metaphor 'flat', to represent the world without any barriers and connected by the Internet and other communication devices. The book is full of interesting examples which show the amount of research Friedman has done. Take this example about penetration of outsourcing .

Many companies and hospitals are outsourcing PowerPoint Presentations to India. Yes, you read it right. PPTs. How? Individuals who want to do PPTs, send a synopsis and other material to India. Indians make the PPT and return it to US. There is a company in Bangalore, which specialises in this. Such examples help reader to relate globalisation to his or her day-to-day life.

The book is well organised. It starts with brief overview of the reasons behind the globalisation, followed by its effect on the different entities, like Developed nations, Developing nations, companies, individuals. The topics are well defined and are substantiated with ample examples. In a nutshell, it covers everything a common man would want to know about globalisation.

The language of the book is straightforward and pragmatic, in fact sometimes tilting towards pungency. Friedman plays with the word 'flat' very skillfully, relating it to many things. For example, to relate to the privacy issues in todays world, he says
"In the flat world without any walls and hills it is very difficult to hide from anyone "
Throughout the book, he raves about India and China and becomes critical towards the American public and government. His writing style gives hope and encouragement to the developing world, at the same time warning the developed world to act quickly to prevent future decaying.

But sometimes the book swings too much towards the American or especially capitalist point of view, portraying globalisation and capitalism as the only panacea to the poverty all around the world. He becomes critical about Nehru in some instances for supporting USSR (Legacy of Cold War perhaps). He fails to understand that though the world has become flat for large chunk of Indians, there are millions of Indians who are not able to come on the level fields with the world. For more about such criticisms by some noted Indians, here are the links:
http://www.hindu.com/mag/2005/06/05/stories/2005060500160300.htm
http://www.hindu.com/br/2005/08/02/stories/2005080200381500.htm

But overall a very good book to get acquainted with all the recent developments in the world. A must read if you want to be a global citizen.

Official site: http://www.thomaslfriedman.com/worldisflat.htm

posted by ninad @ 8:28 pm