So, after listening to a couple of people pitch the book, I decided to pick up a copy--and yes, Thomas Friedman makes a strong case that Globalization is Real AND it a phenomenon to be taken seriously. The World Is Flat has been a nice read...thus far. I'm not yet finished; so don't confuse these words as a book review, by any measure. [Currently sitting comfortably at the beginning of Chapter 11.]
Rather than a book review, I aim to provide an EXTENSION of Friedman's argument, if you will. I would like to SUPPLEMENT his thesis without making any adjustments to his TRAJECTORY; which I happen to believe is true and exact. My intention here is to merely add VALIDITY to his claim through offering a conversation on the ways in which Race and Culture may be understood through this process of FLATTENING. As an educator, my commentary will focus solely on the thread of Education.
EDUCATION
Friedman does allude to the issues I will highlight; but his allusions are tertiary at best and are absent of substantial historical context at worst. So, consider this a rudimentary framework by which Race and Culture should be meted in the future; in America, specifically, and other multi-racial/cultural societies, generally. After all, ghettoGEEKS WorldWide are, and will continue to be, affected by this current Global Flattening.
Friedman spends a considerable amount of text discussing the culture of education in Asian countries like China, India, Japan, and South Korea. As a current US ex-pat residing in South Korea for the last 14 months, I will reiterate his point: AMERICANS!! PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT THE MAN IS SAYING: EDUCATION IS A BIG DEAL IN ASIA!
Here is a small sample the observations he makes in reference to Asian Educational systems:
SUMMER 2004- Discussion on how aggressive Chinese students are about obtaining American visas for entry into American universities. (p.223)
SPRING 2005 - Harvard students form a student group with the purpose of assisting Chinese students with resume writing and joint study projects. Despite most of the Chinese students being from RURAL China, they introduce the American students to Skype--which is the primary means of communication between the groups. (p. 214)
FALL 2005 - "In one of Chennai's [India] ubiquitous academic-coaching classes, a hundred 12th graders are crammed into a purple room, about 30 feet long and 25 feet wide. The energy-sapping temperature is well over 100 degrees despite the constant whirr of overhead fans. {sic} The students listen, rapt, although it is nearly 10:00 pm. When Mr. Arulselvan asks a question, the students rush to reply in chorus. When the tutor poses a problem, they bury their heads in notebooks, chewing on pencils, eager to finish before everyone else" (p. 212-13).
Friedman's (2007) commentary on Education runs throughout the entire book. He goes on to speak about the aggressive ways in which China, India, South Korea, and Japan are handling Education. Through conducting interviews with Chinese government officials, he reports that in 20-50 years it may not be necessary for young Chinese to obtain US visas to attend Harvard or a Yale because Chinese institutions will be on par with elite American universities OR perhaps---better. Friedman makes sure to reiterate China doesn't want to be on par with America: They want to be better. He offers a conversation between a Chinese central bank official and a Mexican journalist. The bank official describes the Chinese-American relationship with the following: "First we were afraid of the wolf, then we wanted to dance with the wolf, and now we want to be the wolf" (Friedman, 2007, p. 404).
FIRST-HAND OBSERVATIONS
Upon my arrival in South Korea, I IMMEDIATELY got the picture. There was no way I could mistake it: Koreans believe in SCHOOL. The typical "teacher-student" relationship impressed me. Dress codes are mandatory; even in Public Secondary institutions. Outside of school, high school students are easily identified because they are ALWAYS in uniform. Why?....oh yeah, that's right, they're ALWAYS IN SCHOOL! For three years of high school, a student is in school from 7:30 AM to roughly 10:00 PM Monday thru Friday. Two (2) Saturdays of the month students are in attendance from 8:00 AM - NOON. During the third and final year of high school school, students are in school seven (7) days a week. (High school students often joke amongst themselves by saying they can't wait to get to college so they can "get a life.") What are American students doing? Waiting for Superman?
Now, one may be able to provide a substantial argument that the Korean system is a bit much. Finland shares the top spot in Global Education and they spend LESS hours at school than any other developed nation. So, while it is true that the Korean way is not the ONLY way to go about educating a nation---I do know this....I've been impressed with the discipline I've seen in South Korean high school students who will tell you, "I can't join you for this activity, because I have to study." Or, "I'll have to spend more time talking to you next year, because I'm currently in my last year of high school." I know far TOO MANY adults who haven't developed this type of discipline.
WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN TO AMERICA?
Americans have GOT to start being HONEST with each other. Friedman continually discusses the inevitably of global collaboration, convergence, and cooperation. That means we, as an ENTIRE people, are going to have to learn to communicate/cooperate with non-Americans assuming a power dynamic that doesn't automatically place Americans at the top. That "American arrogance" is going to have to go. Our real-world leverage is slipping. We're going to have to learn to communicate with the rest of the world as EQUALS rather than SUPERIORS. Now, as an African-American, I can only imagine how that will play out due to the ways in which productive/progressive racial healing has been constantly stunted and held in a perpetual state of RETARD.
You have seen, and continue to see, the social fallout from Barack Obama's presidency.
How are we to collaborate with others if we haven't learned to collaborate with ourselves. Friedman (2007) comes close, but he doesn't really address it head on. In speaking about our flawed Educational system in relation to the Asian model he says, "despite the gains of the civil rights movement, the 1960s witnessed growing defacto racial segregation in the schools, as white families with children largely abandoned the cities, leaving behind what we know is an even more segregated (by race and class) city" (p. 360). That is as close as he has gotten in addressing the ways in which America's system of racism has affected America's system of Education. (We are going to have to have more rich, honest, and thorough discussion than that Tom.) If Friedman would have picked up Charles Mills' The Racial Contract, he may have found reasons why the American educational system is as contorted as it is. Race and Racism are at the CENTER of America's Educational problem.
America and Americans are going to have to find HONEST ways to bridge the racial divide. A good place to start is tackling issues of WHITE GUILT and BLACK RAGE. From this point, we can move the conversation forward.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO ghettoGEEKS?
The ideal country in a flat world is the one with no natural resources, because countries with no natural resources tend to dig inside themselves. They try to tap the energy, entrepreneurship, creativity, and intelligence of their own people--men and women--rather than drill an oil well (Friedman, 2007, p. 358).
Stop. Grab a mirror. Look into it. THIS is who you have control over. Love yourself enough to practice SERIOUS introspection everyday. Study. Build upon your Strengths. Be honest about your Weaknesses. Study. Stop crying. Start planning. Study. Have a Goal. Get a Goal. Make proper steps toward achieving that Goal. Study. Develop some Discipline. Study. Set your own expectations. Because your school is most likely underserving you, ALWAYS do more than your teachers require. Study. Take a match and some lighter fluid and Burn Up Your Television. Study. Go outside your block, neighborhood, and community---make some new friends. Learn a new language; preferably Chinese, Korean, and/or Japanese. Study. Stop focusing on the White Standard; start focusing on the Global Standard. Buy a Passport. Study. Travel. Practice frugality with your Money. Refrain from being a Label Whore. Have PRODUCTIVE relationships with people; or learn to be comfortable ALONE. Use more weekends for WORK. Study. Create a lifestyle that allows you to take a "weekend" on Tuesday and Wednesday while everyone is at work. Study.
It's time for some serious changes. Alas, the World is Flat, MyNigga.
WeBeGeekin'
www.ghettogeekin.blogspot.com
