Globalization.
Is Globalization a Good Thing? Globalization, as Friedman states, helps the world grow together as the advancement of technology has allowed poor nations to grow economically. On the contrary, Sen mentions that there needs to be institutional reforms for globalization to have a lasting effect on the world as a whole. Along with Sen, Florida argues that the world is spiky because of the wide disparity between rich and poor. With these three well accounted opinions in mind, I believe that Globalization is good for the world because as “Friedman points out, it helps lagging countries catch up to the rest of the world as well as introducing new technological advances that will help the world grow economically as a whole”( Friedman, Thomas L. (2005) The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.) When looking at this issue there are many different perspectives to look through that would change your opinion. Friedman refers to three stages in the evolution of the flat world that globalization has caused. These three stages involved countries “globalizing, the economy globalizing and individuals understanding their role in the globalized world”( Friedman, Thomas L. (2005) The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.). This is a very unique perspective because from all these phases, Friedman continues to argue that the world is flat. When he mentions that the world is flat, he is arguing that people and countries seem closer and interconnected because of the success of globalization. “On the contrary, Sen and Florida both dispute that the world is spiky because of the imbalance across the world and the large gap between rich and poor that globalization has caused”( Sen, Amartya (2002) How to Judge Globalism, The American Prospect (January 1). All these critics of globalization have their own personal critiques on the topic because it is such a big part of our world today.
Cited: Florida, Richard (2005) The world is spiky, The Atlantic Monthly 296 (3): 48-51. Friedman, Thomas L. (2005) The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Sen, Amartya (2002) How to Judge Globalism, The American Prospect (January 1).