I don't often agree with Thomas Friedman -- Mr. We're All Flat Worlders Now -- but he said a few things this weekend that got my attention.
Even a stopped clock is right -- twice a day.
A Theory of Everything (Sort Of)
by Thomas L. Friedman, Op-Ed Columnist, NYTimes.com August 13, 2011
[...]
There are multiple and different reasons for these explosions [London, Israel, Egypt, Athens, Barcelona], but to the extent they might have a common denominator I think it can be found in one of the slogans of Israel’s middle-class uprising: “We are fighting for an accessible future.” Across the world, a lot of middle- and lower-middle-class people now feel that the “future” is out of their grasp, and they are letting their leaders know it.
Why now? It starts with the fact that globalization and the information technology revolution have gone to a whole new level. Thanks to cloud computing, robotics, 3G wireless connectivity, Skype, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Twitter, the iPad, and cheap Internet-enabled smartphones, the world has gone from connected to hyper-connected.
This is the single most important trend in the world today. And it is a critical reason why, to get into the middle class now, you have to study harder, work smarter and adapt quicker than ever before. All this technology and globalization are eliminating more and more “routine” work -- the sort of work that once sustained a lot of middle-class lifestyles.
[... Friedman opines further ... Chime II ]
This globalization/I.T. revolution is also “super-empowering” individuals, enabling them to challenge hierarchies and traditional authority figures -- from business to science to government. It is also enabling the creation of powerful minorities and making governing harder and minority rule easier than ever. See dictionary for: “Tea Party.”
If only we had these Tech Tools back in the Sixties, eh?
Hey wait a second, we did end the War afterall. Even without Flash Mobs.
Do Boomers Still Care?
Boomer's Life
At one time we felt things so strongly that we went into the streets to protest the Vietnam War, Watergate, and civil rights abuses. Now we only seem to walk in the street when we want to get from one side to the other. Do we still care?
[...]
Yes, we see these things in the news. But do we care? Are we willing to do anything at all to register even a small bit of protest? Or have the years pounded all that out of us? What's your opinion?
So Do Boomers still care?
If what happened in Wisconsin this past year is any indication, I'd say the Answer is a resounding YES!
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Hell yes -- we do.
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If only Boomers had these Tech Tools back in the Sixties, eh?
If only we had them NOW?
Maybe Friedman is Right on this issue -- 'We are fighting for an accessible future'
for workers the world over, who sense Opportunity slipping out of our collective grasps ...
Question is -- Are we fighting, Smart Enough?
Are we making a big enough splash, that these High Tech Times require?