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Thomas Friedman’s recent Best Seller titled the World is Flat describes, in intrigue details, the process of globalization.  He further explores not only how this process occurred but also where are we heading in this post-globalization era.

These are some of my notes and gist for globalization:
1. Fall of Berlin wall and up with the windows initiated the first flattening event.
2. 8/9/95 windows Netscape created:
a. Internet browsing
b. Commercializing open standard (no walls between companies).
c. Dot com boom
Dot com boom bubble inadvertently created an over-investment of 1 trillion dollars in 5 years in fiber optics.  Many of those early fiber optics cable companies are no longer around.  but they left us an invaluable cocoon, a shell of almost infinitely expansive network that connects from shore to shore.
This process also has made global collaborations possible by driving down the cost of long-distance travel.  On 8/9/95 @28 closed at 56 WOA!

In history, the .com bust not the first time we over-invested.  Railroad for example, was also over-invested, and it made cheap cross-country travel available for the U.S. citizens.  The difference this time is that the beneficiaries are the Chinese, the Indians, and other s.e. Asian countries.
3. Open sourcing.  We all know Microsoft cannot undercut FREE!!
4. Three factors distracted us from seeing opportunities of globalization (or should I say the product).  They are the 911 tragedy, the Enron scandal, and .com bust: 911 has driven the priorities of this country to other parts of the world. Some people argue that we(the U.S.) is effectively missing a golden opportunity in out-sourcing and improving productivity.  Once this window of opportunity is gone, we’ll be left behind.  The Enron scandal unfortunately has made every CEO guilty until proven innocent (so their words are not taken seriously).  Friedman thinks while occasionally, CEO’s do commit unscrupulous deeds, they nevertheless should still be trustworthy.  Lastly, some believe that the .com bust had projected a false image that globalization is a thing of the past.  No, it’s only the beginning. 

All and all, the core thesis of the book is obviously about globalization.  But Friedman also cautious us about our lack of communication to our kids, the next generation.  How do we teach out kids that we no long possess the competitive edge in physically being close to the job.  Is used to be common to used the old adage "finish your meal because kids in China are starving."  Now is more or less "finish your homework so you won’t lose your job to the kid in China or India."  Are we ready?  ARE WE READY? Is our education prepared?  The adults (educators) aren’t even prepare.  sigh..

What we call the beginning is often the end
And to make an end is to make a beginning
The end is where we start from.
–T.S. Eliot

Strange it may seem, life itself is a circular argument.  Most people ask why we have to die, but never thought about why we were born.  Too many have wondered how the universe was formed but never seek to understand how one would end.  I’ve seen the history of mankind beyond what was recorded.  The hardships our ancestors have to endured to create new beginnings were incredible.  The paths they took to reach the continents were audacious ones and they were clairvoyant.  The stories are all there.  They’re coded in our DNA…
Do you want to know?
Image taken from www.illumina.com