The Untouchables: Thomas L. Friedman

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The Untouchables: Thomas L. Friedman The “The Untouchables” is an excerpt from investigative reporter Thomas L. Friedman’s book, “The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century, 2005”. Friedman is an investigative reporter for the New York Times who has won three Pulitzer prizes for his international reporting and commentary. In this excerpt, Friedman brings into perspective the growing reality of what he calls the flattening of the world and addresses the growing threat to American jobs and what needs to be done to combat the growing competition from globalization. In his book the author states that the job market is shrinking because technology is replacing many white collar jobs as well as making them more accessible to being exported, therefore making the world flatter. The author portrays the future as being a world that will only have good jobs for those that have the right knowledge, expertise, mind set, and enthusiasm. He explains to adjust to a future that survives in a global environment all Americans must “think of himself or herself as competing against every young Chinese, Indian, and Brazilian”(Friedman 239). In order to be successful prospectors in this future environment, Americans must obtain a higher level of knowledge than their competing counterparts. With this knowledge they must also strive to remain flexible and motivated in their endeavors. Along with maintaining the right physiological mind set, they must constantly be proving that they are indispensable assets who are ready to set the pace and keep the working standards high. The author explains the meaning of becoming “untouchables” in depth and identifies three broad categories of workers who will have job security in the flat world. Friedman defines “untouchables as people whose jobs cannot be outsourced, digitized, or automated” (Friedman 240). Friedman

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