Sunday, November 25, 2012
TWIF Flattener 1 - 11/9/89
Use one of the current events sources linked at http://mrsfridaysclass.wikispaces.com/Current+Events to find a recent news article that relates to, supports, or refutes Friedman's assertion that 11/9/89 was a "flattener." Your comment should include the title of the news article, a link to the article, and a summary of the article including an explanation of how the article relates to this point. Don't forget to check your rubric for evaluation criteria!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
China Tightening Controls On Internet
ReplyDeletehttp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=168112710
China, governed by Communists, tightens restrictions on websites and applications that are available to Chinese citizens. The Chinese believe that the Internet should be used for strictly business and educational purposes. This latest round of censures results from the new Communist leaders' desire to prevent the proliferation of riotous movements that weakens the Communists' hold on their one-party system. Furthermore, Chinese citizens already face forms of censorship in media outlets such as TV and newspapers; however, Chinese citizens are now required to attach their names to any comments made on the Internet. The article "China Tightening Controls On Internet" correlates to "The World is Flat" due to the similarity in the purpose of the Berlin Wall and China's Internet censorship -- to restrict knowledge and wealth from diffusing throughout a society. The Berlin Wall, constructed in a time where electronic communication was not as prevalent, attempted to restrict the flow of knowledge by blocking communications. Likewise, China attempts to accomplish a similar goal but now competes with the various forms of electronic communication.
Trouble in Russia Over Ban of Adoptions by Americans
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/12/world/europe/russias-us-adoption-ban-proves-divisive-at-home.html?ref=world
This article is about the recent ban of Russian adoptions by Americans. It talks about how the country is split on the decision, 56% in favor of the ban, and the rest is against the new law. It it also discusses a petition taken by a Russian newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, that was in favor of retracting the law. There were 130,000 signatures. The support of this law came from the allegations of American parents abusing their Russian adoptive children and yet not getting punished for doing so. These allegations are being seen by 2/3 of Russia's population, and they honestly believe that these stories are true. This relates back to "The World is Flat", due to a "Berlin Wall" being put up by Russia against the United States. The fact is that Russia is closing off the United States from its country, just like the Berlin Wall did to Germany. Though through the vigorous efforts made by some of Russia's citizens this "wall" can be torn down by the retraction of the law. Just like Germany, Russia can destroy the barrier dividing us and open up the world further. The world is being divided once more through the adoption bans against the United States and other communication barriers like China's censorship, but like Berlin Wall spoken about in "The World is Flat", all these divisions can be conquered.
South Korea prepares to host G20 Summit
ReplyDeletehttp://www.euronews.com/2010/11/03/south-korea-prepares-to-host-g20-summit/
This article explains about North Korea hosting the G20 Summit. It goes over how extensive the planning has been because of the effort to show the world that South Korea is a respectable and strong country in the 21st century. This event will not only be beneficial to South Korea socially, but economically too. The country could earn the equivalent of up to 14 billion euros through the ripple effect. "Members of the South Korean government will also be keen to avoid ugly confrontations, at a time when the country is attempting to show it has high ambitions for its emerging economy, according to Sohn Jie-Ae of the G20 Summit’s Presidential Committee." South Korea opening its doors and trying to show the world that it is thriving is similar to the Berlin wall being torn down. Having the Berlin wall torn down opened the way for ideas to be shared freely and allowed for a Germany to work together economically and socially. Hosting the G20 summit in South Korea opens up the communication lines and allows for South Korea to show the rest of the world that they are reliable, a modern player on the world stage and ready to make big decisions. This will make other countries strive to communicate and be in touch with South Korea, just like following 11/9/89 the two sides were ready and able to communicate freely.
China Labor Cost Rise to Boost Rivals in Asia
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cnbc.com/id/100387910/Chinarsquos_Labor_Cost_Rise_Will_Boost_Rivals_in_Asia
This article talks about how the labor prices in China are rising and how that makes room for other countries in Asia to prosper by manufacturing supplies for companies around the world. Since China's labor costs have become more expensive, this allows other countries in Asia with a poor economy to prosper economically and join the economic mainstream. In Friendman's first flattener he talks about is how the fall of Berlin Wall opened opportunities for Germany and all of Eastern Europe to join the economic main stream and trade goods with other countries. This article agrees with his theory because it shows how economic advancement is growing to countries where it has never happened before. This would increase the economy of that country and would allow it to not only manufacture but also trade goods with countries around the world. When this country meets its economical potential, then another country would join the economic mainstream and prosper. This would be a continuos cycle.
Google Attacks UN's Internet Treaty Conference http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20429625
ReplyDeleteAccording to Friedman, flattener #1 is the fall of the Berlin Wall. He writes that after the wall fell the world started to be seen as one and there was a trent toward individuals and away from government interests. However, today, some governments are now moving away from those ideas by wanting to place controls on the Internet. In this article, Google is warning that some countries want to use the UN's International Telecommunication Union conference to put restrictions on the Internet. Google is warning that "Some proposals could permit governments to censor legitimate speech - or even allow them to cut off internet access." Also, the article states that some governments even want tolls to be paid when people Skype or use social media across borders. Google started an online petition against these types of government restrictions. Limiting access to information and putting up barriers for people using social media to connect in different countries will have a negative effect on the flattening of the world that started when the Berline Wall fell. Some governments want to go backwards in time to a less connected world so that they can control information.
Mr. Kim, Tear Down That Wall; Mr. Xi; Carry On
ReplyDeletehttp://www.economist.com/blogs/analects/2013/01/google-china
The article deals with how China restricts its citizen's use on the internet. They have been virtually isolating themselves from the rest of the world and this will affect them physically. Google's executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, visited China to try to assist them in gaining internet freedom. He failed, and the Chinese web-users are still very much censored with anything they perform on the internet. Many individuals have been fighting to lose censorship in China. This correlates to Friedman's first flattener because it is about breaking down barriers. In the eastern hemisphere, where the communists ruled, they kept themselves isolated to the rest of the world. This trend was broken due to the collapse of the Berlin Wall. Now, in a world where everything is on a computer, it is important to be able to find information how ever one would want. However, China restricts certain web sites and searches. Chinese web-users have been pushing to gain full access to the internet without censorship. It is now just a matter of time until this virtual wall will collapse.
From Death Strip to Tech Campus
ReplyDeletehttp://latitude.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/16/tech-innovation-in-berlin/
This article is about a company that is turning an old building near the Berlin Wall into a technology campus for Google and some other investors. The companies in the campus are ones that create new technology such as apps and websites. This relates to The World is Flat because Friedman says that when the Berlin Wall fell, it created opportunities for growth and therefore was a flattener. This article supports Friedman's theory because it talks about companies that are helping the growth of the world through technology, and they are standing where the Berlin Wall once was, which prevented growth before it fell. The technology the companies have are accessible to anyone in the world and show the world as a market where they can sell their technologic items, which also helps to flatten the world.
The Caps are back, and bar owners are rejoicing
ReplyDeletehttp://www.washingtonpost.com/local/the-caps-are-back-and-bar-owners-are-rejoicing/2013/01/21/c4aab264-63f5-11e2-85f5-a8a9228e55e7_story.html?hpid=z6
In this article talks about how the league lockout was keeping hockey fans from going to their regular bars to watch the games. Now that the "wall" or the lockout is over they can return to their regular place to enjoy the games they loved watching. This is like the first flattener because both the Berlin Wall and the hockey fans were restricted from what they wanted and now they can once again enjoy it.
Eastern German resentment lingers over Westerners' deals
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cnn.com/WORLD/europe/9911/08/germany.carpetbaggers/index.html?iref=allsearch
This article is about how even after ten years after the fall of the Berlin wall, eastern Germany was still feeling the backlash of the sudden switch from communism to capitalism. It was highly similar to how, after the end of the American civil war, people from the north came south to make a profit instead of really helping those in need. This article relates to the first flattener because it shows how some people did not enjoy the fall of communism and instead resented it.