Globalization

9 Pages 2174 Words

Thomas L. Friedman is known for writing his interpretations of world affairs. He has won two Pulitzer Prizes as a foreign affairs columnist for The New York Times. In his book, The Lexus and the Olive Tree, Friedman talks about his extensive travels and experiences with people around the globe and how globalization has affected all types of people from all walks of life. He shows how the Lexus represents advancements in technologies and the pursuit of a higher standard of living while the Olive Tree represents a peoples’ roots. Friedman is a supporter of globalization and describes thoroughly how the best course for the world to take is to nurture this new system. Friedman looks at globalization as the system to take over after the collapse of the “Cold War system.” He describes the Cold War system as a focus on division and with the collapse of the Berlin Wall came the collapse of the Cold War system. Globalization, with a theme of integration, quickly took its place.
Friedman portrays three fundamental changes as the initial steps towards globalization; changes in how we communicate, how we invest and how we attain information about the world. The “democratization of technology” was the initial step. Innovations in the 1980’s and 1990’s such as computerization, Internet tools and telecommunications are the driving forces behind the democratization of technology. The ability to communicate with anyone around the world easily and cheaply allowed the potential for wealth distribution to be evenly distributed geographically. The “commercial paper” market actually started the “democratization of finance.” These were bonds issued by corporations directly to the public to raise capital. Bonds stopped the monopoly that banks held over people, which allowed for credit to flow freely. The third and final change was the “democratization of information.” This change began with the globalization of televi...