The World is Flat Section 2 Questions

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Britney Black

1. The second chapter outlines “Ten Forces That Flattened the World,” ranging from the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, to the open-source software movement. In what way did politics influence entrepreneurship in the 1990s? What psychological impact did November 9 have on the world, particularly when paired with new means for global communication?

With the fall of the Berlin Wall came the end of communism. The end of communism began the spread of democracy and capitalism throughout the world. This means that new business could be started through innovation and entrepreneurship, whereas communism supports equality. Since the Berlin Wall was a blockade or fort for the communist countries to keep communism inside, when the Wall fell communications spread through Western Europe. These global communications help spread new ideas and news. These communications weakened the people’s views rather quickly on communism while at the same time spread the news of capitalism.

 

2. Freidman points out that with the second flattener of internet and global communications many positive connections are made. What are some of these connections? How has your life been affected by the development of the Internet? Are there any negative effects?

These connections consisted of things like the ability to post something like news and thousands of people could instantly see what was posted. Communication through the internet is also extremely easy through programs like email. Also new jobs like web designers were created which allow people to show their creativity and knowledge. My life has been affected by the internet tremendously. The way we do school work has changed, take this class for example. It is no more textbooks and test to measure what students have learned. It is now creating blogs and products like Prezi presentations. While this is great because we get to show what we learned through our creativity and show information in numerous ways instead of always having one answer, the internet has its negative affects too. Students no longer think through challenging thought processes themselves. It’s as easy as ask Google for the answer.

The World is Flat Questions

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1. The first chapter in The World Is Flat recalls the voyage of Columbus, colonization, and industrialization. Are the motivations behind twenty-first-century globalization much different from the ones recorded throughout history?

– I don’t believe that there was much difference between the motivations between the eras of globalization. Globalization means extending to all other parts of the world. Columbus set out to find new land and experience the unknown world and we are experiencing the unknown world, the technology filled world. The search for something new motivated people to journey through the unknown. While the globalizations throughout history and todays globalization sit on two different sides of the spectrum, the actual earth and the technology world, both are valuable to the growth of the time period.

2. Thomas L. Friedman discusses the many occupations that can now be outsourced or offshored, including his own job as a journalist. Could many American jobs be done by someone in another country? Could many Americans do their job better from home, as the JetBlue telephone agents do? Would you feel comfortable knowing that your taxes had been prepared by an overseas accountant, or your CAT scan read by an overseas radiologist?

– I do believe that many American jobs could be done by someone in another country. However, I do not think that moving jobs would be beneficial. As our world gets smaller and our use in technology increases, less jobs are become available. The unemployment rate is already at 7.9 percent. We need to keep as many jobs here as possible. Depending upon the job description some jobs would be better done at home. I would feel uncomfortable if  my taxes were done by an accountant oversees.

-Britney Black

North Korea Video 2-11

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I knew that North Korea had a labor camp and that life was hard but I had no clue just how bad it was. One thing that I would like to know is how the guard escaped. Also the guard made the comment that he did not know it was wrong to shoot people and I would like to know how. I  learned that the camp is very similar to the camps the Jews were forced in during the holocaust. The people are fed the bare minimum and were shot just because the guards were tired of following them around. I thought the narrators comment about escaping for the chance to eat fried chicken instead of the chance at freedom was unreal. That put the horrible camp life into perspective for me.

Britney Black

I knew that North Korea had labor camps, but I did not realize how bad they really were. By watching this video, I learned how bad the conditions were in the labor camps, and that they were barely fed any food. I would like to know more about the guards from the labor camps. I would like to know about their background, and why they did the things that they did.

Jenna Timmons

North Korea Video

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Britney Black

One thing that surprised me was the comment stating the realization that there was not a difference between true belief and true fear. I understand that North Korea has been under absolute rule for such a long time but peoples’ lives have been taken over by fear completely. I feel as if the people of North Korea have been brain washed. I think that the United States should not get involved in this issue. We have been trying to isolate North Korea for a while and it seems to be working. I believe that by getting involved all of our hard work is useless. One thing that I liked about the video was the stories of the people who escaped. They had more guts then I ever could have being placed in that situation. Something that I would like to know is if the people of North Korea actually believe the things of their culture or if they are just fearful of Kim Jung Il and Kim Jung Un.

Jenna Timmons

I was surprised to see how brain washed the people of North Korea were. Once the people that had the eye surgery realized that they could see again, the gave all of their thanks to Kim Jung Il and Kim Jung Un. This showed how brainwashed they were because they were not even thanking the man that actually performed the surgery. They did not know any better, and believed that Kim Jung Il and Kim Jung Un deserved praise and honor for everything. Something that I would like to learn more about is the concentration camps in North Korea. I think it is awful that they put them in these concentration, and I would like to know more about what the people of North Korea had to go through. I believe that the United States should not get involved with North Korea. I think that it will only have a bad outcome, and that we should just stay out of it.