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While I only sporadically do this, there were several recent events I wanted to comment on. Also, I didn't think my last blog posting was all that great, and wanted to give it another go :). Not wanting anyone's eyes to bleed, I'm going to give these items each their own installment, so stay tuned for another book review (man that sounds sad) and a run-down of the cruise I returned from yesterday.
On a flight a couple weeks ago, zipping briefly to LA on business, I decided to finally tackle Thomas Friedmans The World is Flat. For those of you unfamiliar, The World is Flat is very much in vogue right now, sitting on influential bedstands in influential bedrooms at influential homes in places like
I had put off reading the book because it is non-fiction, and because it is huge. I read Friedmans The Lexus and the Olive Tree for a course in college, and did indeed enjoy it. As an excellent guide to understanding past and present factors in globalization and cultural friction, it was a cogent and comprehensive look at our world nearly a decade ago. The World is Flat is Friedman's follow-up to that book, reviewing the developments of those arguments and many more factors in a brief history of the 21st century. However, with a lot of fictional fun and fluff books contending for attention at bedside, this gi-normous, wordy, not-guaranteed-to-entertain tome had a hard time making it to the top of my list. Deciding to bring only it on my flight was making the tough choice to deal with any potential boredom and do the right thing in absorbing what it had to say.
This book was awesome. I was engrossed from the start, and found myself radically inspired, optimistic, depressed, anxious and frustrated, along with a handful of other emotions I'm probably just not remembering now. Examining the course of global business through outsourcing, insourcing, and just plain sourcing; evaluating the drivers that have shaped the past decade, and will influence our future profoundly; understanding the state of American capitalism and education; glimpsing the capability of globalization to enhance and strengthen local cultures rather than steamroll over them and many other compelling arguments and research make this a vital read in considering what you want to do through your career, how to understand recent news, and key issues to consider the next time you vote.
I found myself very energized about the technological and social changes that are just starting to make themselves seen now, and very worried about what America's role will be in shaping these growing treds going forward. And it was very revealing to explore just how complicated and confusing issues of globalization can be. Take an example from Arkansas: the Democratic administration outsourced the operation of it's unemployment office to an Indian firm. Ironic to be sure to see formerly U.S. government jobs to go to a foreign firm to help support other Americans out of work. Local Republican efforts made a field-day of the story, and the contract was cancelled. While millions had been spent on the Indian firm - who by all accounts had thus far done an excellent job - the work was given to an American firm that charged a great deal more (and also wasn't located in Arkansas).
In the end, a Democratic administration tried to source work to the lowest bidder regardless of the company's national origin (rather than protecting American labor, as might be expected), a Republican opposition opposed the move (rather than supporting free trade and less government spending, as might be expected), and Arkansas taxpayers and workers lost out all around: once for having a lot more money spent on their unemployment program than originally planned, twice for not being able to properly spend that money on the training that would avoid future unemployment, and again for not even getting the jobs that went from India to the large American firm. As is so often true, the politically acceptable course of action (and what media outlet wouldn't support the steps that were taken) ended up bringing about the poorest result. But doing the "right" thing (which is admittedly very hard to figure out) would probably have not been possible in the public eye. We're in fascinating times, but not easy ones.
Definitely, definitely read this book.
posted by Jason Skaare at
7:36 PM
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From the luck of knowing good folks at work, I've gotten to participate in a number of cool events. These events are cool because they a.) tend to focus on excellent causes, b.) offer free, semi-decent food (but inevitably good desert) and c.) involve me getting out of work and feeling all "special" and "corporate-y." There was a Red Cross luncheon a couple weeks ago, the Alzheimer Association's "Coach Tressel's Spring Preview" and today, the Columbus Speech and Hearing Center's annual Great Communicator's Luncheon.
They always manage to pull in good speakers for the Communicator's Luncheon. I've seen Madeleine Albright as well as Steve and Cokie Roberts, and I know in other years they've had Rudy Guiliani, Colin Powell, Lou Holtz and Tom Brokaw. This year's speaker was General Tommy Franks, long-time army big honcho more recently known for leading Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq.
It wasn't the usual speech that eventually got around to how communication is - you know - great. Now each speech I've heard in the past has been excellent, so don't think I don't appreciate that message or find it to be an unimportant/less important one than what we ended up hearing. But certainly, a speech on communication at a Communicator's Luncheon isn't wildly unpredicatible. Instead, General Franks spoke in relation to far more current subjects. Going through a quick sketch (with very humorous anecdotes) of his past and up through September 11th and the subsequent invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, he repeatedly came back to the same line, "Ain't this a great country?"
I did wince the first time he said that (and the second, and the third). I heartily agree with the sentiment, but as an opening line it didn't bode well for a new and insightful line of thought. However, with some quality quips and a great - if measured - manner of speaking, I ended up quite impressed. It is refreshing to remember how awesome our nation. We get to support and oppose whatever we like. Obvious and a fair bit sappy, yes, but still true. With the gloom of current events and disatisfaction that seeps in through the TV and online news, it is easy for that negativity to influence how we feel about America and our future as a nation. In particular, here are a couple paraphrased lines of thought I found effective as a wake-up from the everything's-going-to-pot duldroms:
Did we send enough troups in Iraq? Whose fault is it? Good questions. There are different ways to answer the first, but I can put the second to rest. If there weren't enough troups, it's my fault. Donald Rumsfeld is not man enough to make me change my stance now, and he wasn't then: the number of troops, the timing, the methods, the phases - all were my original plans. If someone is to blame for the troops or the way we prosecuted the war, it's me. So there's your answer. Let's move on already.
Someone once asked me, what is the difference between terrorists and terrorism? I said I don't know that I'm qualified academically to answer the question, but I can offer a perspective. Terrorists are individuals like Osama bin Laden, and we know how to deal with them. It might be really difficult to accomplish those actions, but we know how. Terrorism is much harder. There are millions of households that support bin Laden - millions - and we have to figure out why. It is hard for us as Americans to understand how the best thing a mother or father would want for their nine-year-old son is to be a suicide bomber. That is terrorism. We need to show these families that there are better things to aspire to: to find new things for those nine-, ten-, eleven-year-olds to grow up and be. Just like we did through the Cold War, we have to offer the same tools that helped our youth then succeed and vis-a-vis the Soviet Union: free market, free enterprise, free thought, free speech. And winning the war in Iraq - seeing it through completely to the end - is vitally important in accomplishing that goal.
I'm often asked if I think Afghanistan will succeed. And my answer is: "I don't know." I don't know if it will work out. But I do know for the first time in 2000 years they have a chance.
We always have the government we deserve, because we get to choose it. Don't like how things are going? Vote differently next time, locally, state-wide, and nationally. Get your voice heard, research the facts, listen to old people like me and make up your own minds.
A self-declared independent made a four-star by a democrat who went to high school with Laura Bush, his remarks could certainly be interpreted both as approval and disapproval of the current administration and recent events (with my excerpts, I'm doing an injustice in my paraphrasing and selection of his full text). But with both conservatives and liberals sharing the Cardinal Health tables, I saw everyone impressed and thoughtful with what he had to say.
If you get a chance to hear him, it is definitely worth it. Always fascinating to hear from the people who have so strongly shaped recent events, and always better to get information, opinions and thoughts direct from the source.
[ Unrelated - did you see Stephen Colbert at the White House Correspondent's Dinner? You can find it on YouTube. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcIRXur61II) Edgy, probably a little heavy on the "truthiness" to be considered appropriate, but definitely worth seeing the guts it took to be that persistent. ]
posted by Jason Skaare at
7:39 PM
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