Just when Friedman is done admitting in the previous chapter that the world is not completely flat, he talks in this chapter that the cultural revolution is about to begin. He proceeds to state that as long as you have a computer, camera and microphone, then you are good to go into the global world. And he claims that this applies for anyone. Well I do not totally agree. For instance, take people in China. Just because many may have these “three tickets into globalization” does not fully mean that they can take in the full benefits of it. I remember reading somewhere that China’s government still dictates what they can and cannot read in their country. We learned in Dr. Christiansen’s class that they are very private about what they will allow their people to know and especially about what they share about China to the outside world. They are also the only country in the world that will not allow the Pope to visit (so not open to religious freedom.) Yahoo! And Google have censorship rules in China that they must adhere to. So, even if they have very equipped with the global tools, then they will not be fully able to partake in all the benefits of globalization.
In addition to all of this I do not agree with his argument that globalization is not in the form of “Americanization.” I think that we are taking over the world. He claims that the internet will be able to have everyone’s culture broadcasted. Yea that’s true, but America has the most power so our businesses will most likely prevail. So the products, restaurants and clothes will be in American form, but will only be altered to the point that a very different culture will accept them. And if this is so, it will be changed only in their geographic area for them. For example, take McDonalds. It has a restaurant in India. They do not eat cows over there for religious reasons, so McDonalds wants their money and changed hamburgers to chicken burgers. In all other McDonalds across the world, it has regular “beef.” McDonalds only changed it because the had to for India otherwise there is no way that their people would buy it.
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Though some things you said about the Chinese not being able to participate in the flat world are true there is a choice. I think the point is they have the option and the ability to participate. Though China is restrictive I think things are opening up a lot more because of the flat world.
I am afraid I do not believe globalization is the same as Americanization. If people choose to embrace our culture so be it. We are not shoving it down anyones throat. Everyone uses the McDonalds, example as proof of Americanization but they are just being a global business. They adapt for every culture and are really not pushing the "American Way" on any culture. Are we becoming more Japanese because we can buy sushi on every corner? No. I think globalization exposes us to culture not changes it.
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