Thomas L. Friedman

Thanks to my wonderful colleague, Wilson Ong, I had the once in a lifetime - ok, maybe twice, but no more - opportunity to attend a lecture by Thomas Friedman. My intellect, or lack thereof, is still so overwhelmed that I am unsure of where to begin. But for now, enough kowtow and sycophancy. However, due to the immense compulsion that a man of his stature should have an honorific, let's just call him Dr. Friedman for the sake of me completing this post within the next year.

The eminent journalist has authored "The World is Flat," from whence he drew the framework for his lecture. To provide a quick synopsis relevant to the title, the flatness of the world refers to the ubiquity of communication, information, and technology brought upon by globalization. For example, a hospital in Kansas can be neighbors with an outsourced radiology facility in Bangalore, India, but this can only happen metaphorically as nobody wants to be in or near Kansas. By the same token, although Dr. Friedman is in Maryland, and I, in California, this blog entry is technically in his digital backyard, possibly even within equal reach of his toilet paper.

Moving onward, I feel that it would be more informative to say "The Developed World is Flat." Dr. Friedman mentioned that globalization took place in three chronologically distinct stages; the first in which nations globalized, then corporations, and now, individuals. So where can we find a global steamroller to even out the disparities and rifts in globalization? What do the nations who missed the globalization train do? For one, the last post links to a video that sheds light on the fact that millions worldwide still do not have access to water. How do we connect the flat world to the allegedly developing world? If these countries are in fact developing and possibly globalizing, why the lack of investment? Aren't even the most basic forms of infrastructure investments bound to pay off in the long run?

Also, in applying some of his views to some of the recent seminar topics such as sustainability, to quote Dr. Friedman, "the stone age didn't end because cavemen ran out of stones." They most definitely moved onto bigger and better things. But do homo sapiens have the same acuity, or will we wait until all the oil wells, domestic and foreign, are pillaged dry? Dr. Friedman suggests disincentivizing oil consumption through taxes at the pump. Can we really push individuals to develop alternative energy as a result or should the government subsidize such resources and incentivize them through lower prices? The former would cause the government to assume less debt while utilizing market forces. Nonetheless, depeletable resources are priceless.

Before I run amuck with questions, when the disparities in global standards really flattens, what do we do to save costs. Where do we outsource to?

To philosophically recount the experience, my entire life has changed as a result of a simple 2 hours during which our paths had crossed.

Global Water Crisis

My brief comment on this topic is attached to the video.

Rhetoric

We [politicians] need to stop throwing suggestions about freely like feces, but assert them backed with the guarantee of action. It's unsettling watching these videos and flipping through these images of haunting sunken eyes and swollen bellies. We read literature after literature on the issues and solutions, but I really am clueless on where to start. How can I make a difference? How do we teach these people to fish? How do we eliminate these disparities? How do we face opposition? What rights do these people have? Is there a hierarchy to these issues; a pressure point? Where does the causal chain start? What changes will produce what effects? I just purchased Jeffrey Sachs' "The End of Poverty" for enrichment and will hopefully find better insight and solace for my frustrations of my incapacity. Every second of hesitation and procrastination results in an unbelievable number of deaths. We are all victims of the bystander effect, standing by, watching souls dissolve. We need to stop sticking bandaids on all these problems and attack the underlying issues. HOW ABOUT SOME INITIATIVE?

Catharsis

At the end of a long day, everybody needs to wind down - especially after poring over copious amounts of global health readings. While some people may make their sojourn to various establishments of ill repute, we in the public health field know better. So here's a chance to get your jollies off in the realm of the interweb. Christmas came early this year as this game came my way from a colleague; and now, I share it with you. Indulge yourself in virtual subversiveness wreaking global havoc in the form of a virus built to your very own specifications. Face your fears of the next pandemic by becoming one with it! "If you know both yourself and your enemy, you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories." - Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Hint: You must be surreptitious while maintaining infectivity to ensure that public transit will remain on, improving transmission.

Global Warming & Public Health

Recently in the media, there's been a bit of a hullabaloo regarding global warming. The world has suddenly turned to pessimism or has had an epiphany of sorts regarding our doom. It's even possible that the government is diverting our attention away from more pressing and sensitive issues, but let's ingore that to entertain the possibilities of the repercussions of global warming. Time magazine claims that "a blue-ribbon panel of scientists say it's [the presence of fecal matter on the fan is] official" (1/19/07). Regardless, global warming is more or less a contribution of globalization as a result of the rampant construction of factories, excessive urbanization, and immense combustion of fossil fuels in every crevice of this forsaken planet. And as with many aspects of globalization that we have studied, global warming must have its own set of repercussions on public health. Recently, we've had terrible heat waves, but how will this affect us in the future? Will asthma, COPD, emphysema, and lung cancer be the top global terrorists? So to add to the hullabaloo and drain the half empty glass, what are other implications of globalization induced global warming?

Of course, eventually, the earth may just become a giant sauna and obesity will melt itself to butter, then oblivion; but for now, let's play it safe and worry like hell.