Globalization thoughts

After thinking about the discussion we had today about globalization....i no longer think that globalization means that countries are not competing against each other as much. This question was posed in class and everyone seemed to agree, but i now think it is the opposite.

I think in the wake of globalization the playing field is being leveled....due to the connectedness of the world...but this does NOT mean that countries are not competing, but in fact the opposite; they are competing with each other even more now. Thomas Freidman has a good book about this called "The World is Flat". I think that since this 3rd industrial era that was talked about in the reading, countries are racing towards establishing dominance in the world of information exchange and technology.

An example is as follows: countries are helping each other out more, and company A in the US is getting parts, support, and benefits from country B in China...however both company A and company B both have their own interests in mind and trying to prosper as a companies in the world market. Countries are competing in the global market, but they are also exchanging through the same market. Since this playing field is now even, and any company can join this global network, competition is more now than it was before the era of globalization.

I also feel that countries like China and India have surpassed the US, and that we are now playing catch-up. You hear about this in terms of education today, by many including the president himself, and I think this also applies to the stuff we are talking about in class.