Summary Of Lexus And The Olive Tree

The book the Lexus and the Olive Tree was written by Thomas L. Friendman. The book is about how globalization has taken the world by storm. The book has twenty chapters and is split into four parts. Part one is called Seeing The System, part two is called Plugging Into The System, part three is called The Backlash Against The System, and the final part is called America and The System. To continue, Friedman uses vivid stories to give the reader a vivid ideal to what this new system looks like.
To begin, part one of the books is about Plugging into the system. First one must understand exactly what this new system is. This new system is called globalization. Globalization is the interweaving of markets, technology, information systems and telecommunications …show more content…
These factors are democratization of technology, democratization of finance and democratization of information. Democratization of technology can be defined as a worldwide integration system that can weave not only individuals but global information and markets (Price, 2011). This world is an interwoven place encompassed by opportunities and threats which derive from the people who you are connected to (Friedman, 2000). The social media sites that we use today such as Facebook and Twitter are all prime examples of how the usage of the media is a form of integration, the content from these sites are published worldwide for everyone to see. The democratization of finance, otherwise known as free market capitalism expanded vastly across the world. The world of entrepreneurism has taken storm in modern markets and continues to emerge hopeful that they will achieve success in becoming an entrepreneur. This creates competition in markets begins a battle for economic privatization, free-capital, and a better economy. These free market economies which are founded by Globalization are attractive in terms of foreign investments (Friedman, 2000 p. 9). The final factor is the democratization of information. Information is the most valuable piece data in today’s market. Information is important and needed. To contrast information can at times be distorted. An example can be …show more content…
The Lexus symbolized the need for humans to advance and improve their lives. This is not just in relation to a car, but to the advancements of markets, technology and other things. The olive tree symbolizes the things that keep people rooted and gives them a sense of belonging or