TWIF+Chapter+9

Rob Bertolini
 * Ch. 9 This is Not a Test**

Friedman’s whole concept is that the world is “flattening” and we need to do something about it before the world pushes us out. The changes we make need to better ourselves. In this chapter, he talks about improving our working skills to better our careers. Friedman stresses that our country is in dire need of changes and uses John F. Kennedy’s speech to Congress to that we have “urgent national needs.” Our country was in shock over the Soviet’s satellite and space launchings, so Kennedy knew we had to do something about this, because we were not utilizing our human and international assets. Kennedy knew that by landing a man on the moon, we had to spend the next ten years working on new jobs and jobs that we didn’t knew existed. That is what Friedman is trying to say about today. Friedman states: “We have to do things differently. We have to figure out what to sort out and what to keep, what to discard, what to adapt, and what to adopt…. That is what this chapter is about. This is just an intuition, but the flattening of the world is going to be hugely disruptive to both traditional and developed societies. The weak will fall further behind faster…” Friedman wants to find out how “to maximize the benefits and opportunities of the flat world, and providing protection for those who have difficulty with the transition.” This is one of his main concerns, our country making the transition into the flat world. I would have to agree with him on this. The new world in front of us is full of unknowns. We have to make a change in our education so that the youth of America is prepared for the “UNKNOWN.” My favorite part about this chapter is how he challenged parents. I’m a huge advocate of that. I did a research paper in another grad school class on parents and the way they parent their children. I totally agree that we have to improved parenting. Friedman states: “ Helping individuals adapt to a flat world is not only the job of governments and companies, it is also a job for parents.” Parents have to take an interest in what their children are learning. By doing this, the child will show a higher effort in trying to excel in the classroom. As a teacher in Clifton, the majority of students whose parents are involved in their child’s education and life show a better understanding in my Health class and Phys Ed class. That’s just what I noticed. It’s not the rule or the law, but on average, those kids do better, just like Friedman was trying to say.  After reading this chapter, there was definitely some good information to prepare my students, my children, and possibly myself for the future this nation holds for us. If what Friedman says is true, and we do not adapt to it and adopt new information for it, then we will fall behind as the premiere nation in the world. Other countries are more advanced than us already in education, but we still are holding on as number one as the national power. If we do make changes, they would have to start in the classrooms. The new world is challenging and unknown. Education in the future will have to be able to prepare students for jobs that don’t even exist now. That is a tough task to do, but according to the many authors we have read throughout this class, and the information we have learned about, it needs to be done.

**__The World is Flat__** Elizabeth Redmond **
 * By Thomas L. Friedman **
 * Chapter 9: This is not a Test **
 * Throughout chapter 9 Friedman is trying to compel people to be less flat and become more three dimensional. Friedman uses the analogy of the TV and radio stations periodically testing in case of an emergency to get the reader to realize that life is happening and constantly changing and people can not just let it pass them by they need to be ready incase there is an actually emergency. Friedman believes that we ‘need to have much more thoughtful national discussion’ (2006, p. 361). Which I absolutely agree with, it is my opinion that we talk in circles and in some cases just talk but, never actually accomplish anything, especially in education. **
 * Friedman uses the term ‘compassionate flatism’ which he interprets as being progressive in a flat world, and the components of a compassionate flatism are leadership, muscle building, cushioning, social activism and parenting. **
 * For leadership, Friedman believes that all American politicians should put their energy into helping to educate and explain to the people what world they are living in and help to provide them with the tools needed to make this world succeed. Through this leadership, Friedman believes that those who desire to become politicians needs to be able to ‘explain and inspire’ their constituents. The one idea that has really got me thinking about how I educate myself and my students is to think about ‘replacing the notion of lifetime employment with the notion of lifetime employability’ (2006, p. 367). Meaning we need to have skills that make us adaptable and mutli-funtionally, the government should be able to guarantee people the chance to be more employable, not to guarantee employment. I really think this is the central point, we can not afford just be average anymore, we must create people that are three dimensional. It not good enough to have a business degree, what other skills can you bring to the table that would make you more ‘employable’ then the next person. **
 * The muscle is replacing the fat to have lifetime employability. According to Friedman **
 * what a “muscle workers need most are the portable benefits and opportunities for lifelong learning”(2006, p. 369) In order to create this muscle society needs a framework for universal portability of pensions, health care, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Also, the thought that pensions should roll over from one job to the next, which would be great because workers would feel less pressure to stay at their current job according to Friedman. It is my belief that in order for people to grow they need to go, meaning change is good and provide opportunities to challenge us and make people more three dimensional. Friedman does not go to far into health care, only that a system should be created so that the entire burden of cost for health care does not fall directly on employers. **
 * Another critical role for the government to create lifetime employability is to upgrade the educational system; this is done by first learning the fundamentals. For the right education to be taught we must learn the fundamentals which according Friedman include reading comprehension, writing, arithmetic and basic science. I would have to add basic history to the list. Friedman makes an excellent point about the importance of higher education, he says “Tertiary education is more critical the flatter the world gets, because technology will be churning old jobs, and spawning new, more complete ones, much faster than during the transition from the agricultural economy to the industrial one” 2006, p. 373). Meaning that we will need less low-skilled workers and more high-skilled labors and those high-skilled labors should possess many different skills. Friedman’s vision in which I concur is to have every American on a campus. **
 * Friedman believes there are several governmental institutions that should remain social security, welfare that encourages people to work are what Friedman refers to as ‘good fat’ or the cushions worth keeping. **
 * As for the component of social activism Friedman believe that the moral consciences of global corporations need to be sorted out. If we mean to ‘go green’ then it needs to start from the top, corporations need to look at how their business effect the environment and what can be done to correct any damage done. **
 * The final component to Friedman’s ‘compassionate flatism’ is parenting and the ability to administrator ‘tough love’ to our children. Children today have such a sense of entitlement because they feel the Americans dominate national and globally. There is a need for instant-gratification because of the technology at the disposal to children provide this instant-gratification. Although, technology has a place, where is the evidence of printed matter in our homes, is a question Friedman inquires. **
 * Parents need to instill in their children idea of putting “off a little gratification for the future and understand that they need to hone their skills” (2006, p. 386), work now, play later. **
 * Throughout the chapter, as well as the book Friedman really has some interesting and valid points. I truly agree with Friedman and that we need to work on creating a less flat world. It is important for us to continue to learn and challenge ourselves and not settle for the basics or assume that Americans will always be at the top.