The World Is Flat?: A Critical Analysis of New York Times Bestseller by Thomas Friedman

If you have read Thomas L. Friedman’s bestseller, The World is Flat, and were awed, you might now want to consider what a professor of anthropology at San Jose State University, Roberto J. Gonzalez, thinks, “To awe his readers, Friedman relies upon anecdotes and vignettes from recent trips. He breathlessly recounts visiting booming Asian cities that he portrays as landscapes littered with American logos from IBM, Goldman Sachs, Microsoft and Pizza Hut. Friedman doesn’t appear to spend much time outside of golf courses, five-star restaurants, limousines and luxury hotels. His view of the world is consistent with dozens of elites he interviews on his global journey. Ultimately, Friedman’s work is little more than advertising. This book’s lighthearted style might be amusing were it not for the fact that his subject — the global economy — is a matter of life and death for millions. Friedman’s words and opinions, ill informed as they are, shape the policies of leaders around the world. Many consider him to be a sophisticated thinker and analyst — not a propagandist. It is a sobering reminder of the intellectual paralysis gripping our society today.” In The World is Flat?, Ronald Aronica and Mtetwa Ramdoo present a critical analysis of the revised edition of Friedman’s best-selling book. They question many of Friedman’s observations and conclusions and present information that shows that, rather than living in a “flattened” world, we are, in actuality, living in a world titled in favor of a new breed of elite capitalists who exploit poverty-stricken people willing to work in appalling factory conditions for twenty-cents an hour. In this concise monograph, Aronica and Ramdoo bring clarity to many of Friedman’s technology misconceptions (e.g. workflow systems have been around for years even though Friedman just now discovers them), and give him kudos where he got it right. They also provide ideas for action and a short list of more thoughtful readings for those who want to really understand the forces determining how we will live and compete in the twenty-first century. Refreshingly, you can gain true insights into Friedman’s subject without weeding through 608 pages of ill-informed, grandiloquent prose.