Thomas freeman

Deadline: April 19

With respect to what you hand-in, your paper MUST include the title of the question, your name, and the date of submission.

The paper MUST be at least 750 words in length, which is roughly three pages.

The paper must have page numbers included, at the bottom of the page, on every page.

The question is: Thomas Friedman says that the world is flat. Others disagree. What does Friedman mean when he says that the word is ‘flat’? Is it, or is it not? With examples, let me know if you agree or disagree with Mr. Friedman.

I want students to understand that the argument that Thomas Friedman makes about the world being ‘flat’ is NOT about geography and if the actual Earth is round or flat. We know that Columbus proved that the Earth, as a physical body, is not flat. What we are talking about now is whether the world has ‘flattened’ out so that we as people can access information from around the world in a way that is significantly different than before the internet was created and began to be used by ordinary citizens, and not just for defense purposes.

What does it mean to suggest that the world is ‘flat’? Friedman remarks that he can have his taxes done by someone who lives in India, as compared to his local tax person who lives around the corner. Friedman can send all of his income information to a person in India by email and in return, this person can go onto the IRS website and file Friedman’s American taxes from somewhere else, without any delay or glitches. Like that, someone can work for Microsoft and NOT live in San Francisco, again, because of the existence of high-speed internet. I can write a book with a friend of mine who lives in Europe, and we never miss a beat since we can work on a shared document on our own time and at the same time, again, because of the power of technology. Finally, laptops are made in China, but the parts come from 100 other places and then delivered to China for final assembly. There is something that is ‘assembled’ in China, but it is not ‘made’ in China.

However, does this mean the world is ‘flat’? We can access more of the world today than ever before, but is accessing the world through the internet the same as being somewhere else and experiencing that other world in real time? We know that global elites can fly around the world and visit India, Europe and everywhere else, but most of us cannot do that. Does that mean that the world is not as close as we think it, because most of us cannot truly experience the world up close?

Those of the arguments being made – one person said the world is ‘flat’ (closer to our reach than ever before) and someone else (the second article) says that, for most of us, the world is pretty much the same as before (maybe even worse since we know what is out there, but for most of us it is out of reach).

You must decide which perspective is more persuasive, why, and with examples. It is NOT about if the world is physically flat or not.

Due Date