Globalization

Globalization has been a buzz word between 2000-2005. Now the world seems to be accepting, adopting and adapting it.

What happened to those who defined globalization as 'a threat to USA'?
In 'The World is Flat', Thomas Friedman wrote 'America as a whole will benefit more by sticking to the basic principles of free trade, as it always has, than by trying to erect walls.'

Perhaps these people have not succeeded in erecting those walls. When everybody is trying to understand globalization as a new form of force, such as the freedom fight by Gandhi in India, which will not harm anybody but can hurt. It certainly did.

And now, in 2007, Everybody (who tried it!) seems to be benefited from globalization except USA. Spending power seems to be decreasing, imports are greater than exports from a couple of years. Nope, i don't believe these measures reflect the effects of globalization. Certainly, many people are attributing globalization to the recession in American economy. I believe that USA is glittering but not a gold anymore.

As far as I can think of, the reasons for USA less of gold is:

1. Motivation of the people
-- During cold war Russian Sputnik motivated USA to pursue engineering, science and math to surpass Russian missile. Today, there is no such force that could unite USA.
2. Education
--Certainly, students from Asia seems to have upper hand in at least engineering education. Their long investments into education seems to payoff now. I see most of the students pursuing either biological sciences and engineering thorough masters and ph.d are from Asia. They definitely would prevail in long-term.
3. Dog-bone politics
--Before coming to USA, I was amused at the political system of this country. I am irritated by politics in my country and was excited to see the system here. Without any objections, political system in this country has been a good one. Now, like an iceberg in Antarctic drifting due to global warming, very slowly, politics in this country are moving (precisely 'drifting') away. The direction of this 'drift' is difficult to understand but nonetheless needs attention. I do not know how to get that attention.

Today, I joined one form of globalization: facebook.

Have blast on Thanksgiving!!