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Thomas L. Friedman is not so much a futurist, which he is sometimes
called, as a presentist. His aim, in his new book, The World Is Flat, as
in his earlier, influential Lexus and the Olive Tree, is not to give you a
speculative preview of the wonders that are sure to come in your lifetime,
but rather to get you caught up on the wonders that are already here. The
world isn't going to be flat, it is flat, which gives Friedman's
breathless narrative much of its urgency, and which also saves it from the
Epcot-style polyester sheen that futurists--the optimistic ones at
least--are inevitably prey to.
What Friedman means by "flat" is "connected": the lowering of trade and
political barriers and the exponential technical advances of the digital
revolution have made it possible to do business, or almost anything else,
instantaneously with billions of other people across the planet. This in
itself should not be news to anyone. But the news that Friedman has to
deliver is that just when we stopped paying attention to these
developments--when the dot-com bust turned interest away from the business
and technology pages and when 9/11 and the Iraq War turned all eyes toward
the Middle East--is when they actually began to accelerate. Globalization
3.0, as he calls it, is driven not by major corporations or giant trade
organizations like the World Bank, but by individuals: desktop freelancers
and innovative startups all over the world (but especially in India and
China) who can compete--and win--not just for low-wage manufacturing and
information labor but, increasingly, for the highest-end research and
design work as well. (He doesn't forget the "mutant supply chains" like
Al-Qaeda that let the small act big in more destructive ways.) Friedman
tells his eye-opening story with the catchy slogans and globe-hopping
anecdotes that readers of his earlier books and his New York Times columns
will know well, and also with a stern sort of optimism. He wants to tell
you how exciting this new world is, but he also wants you to know you're
going to be trampled if you don't keep up with it. His book is an
excellent place to begin.
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