Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Is Challenge a Good Thing?
" Tom, the playing field is being leveled."
And with that sentence, Thomas Friedman was challenged with a thought.
"America was going to be challenged, but, he insisted, the challenge would be good for America becuase we are always at our best when we are being challenged."
America was not going to be challenged physically via war or anything like that. We were going to be challenged technically. We were being challenged by other countries, including India, who would now be able to compete for global work knowledge like they have never been able before. We were going to be challenged by other countries who have never been able to challenge us before and this was going to be something new to both us and them and, according to Nandan Nilekani, we would be fine because "we are always at our best when we are being challenged." Well, are we? Sure, we are probably the strongest and most powerful nation in the world today but how often do we as a nation get challenged for anything? Sure with things in the past such as wars and situations like this, we've been able to rise up but look at other things that have happened. Questionable decisions have been made in the past such as the one that has us still in war right now, the nuclear war that wasn't but was on the verge of happening, etc. The United States has risen up in the past in challenging situations, but to say that we're at our best when a challenge is proposed, I'm not to sure about.
Labels: Challenge, Nandan Nilekani, Thomas Friedman
Comments:
<< Home
Good post. Tough question.
Friedman is an optimist. He believes that America will rise to the challenge if we understand the situation clearly. I believe that he is correct for at least an elite minority of the population. The tough question is whether a majority of the population and the nation as a whole is up to the challenges of a flattened global marketplace. It would seem that government will play a key role in making sure that this increased competition benefits everyone and not just a digital economic elite.
Post a Comment
Friedman is an optimist. He believes that America will rise to the challenge if we understand the situation clearly. I believe that he is correct for at least an elite minority of the population. The tough question is whether a majority of the population and the nation as a whole is up to the challenges of a flattened global marketplace. It would seem that government will play a key role in making sure that this increased competition benefits everyone and not just a digital economic elite.
<< Home
