Is free trade really free?

While I have continued reading my book for my class, Thomas L Friedman, The World is Flat 3:0 A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century (Further Updated and Expanded, 2007), I learned about a few things that I never really gave much thought about. One of which is free trade. Is it a good thing? There are arguments on both sides that are valid. Free trade can be described as an agreement in which governments on both sides allow a mutually beneficial agreement of trade and do not interfere with goods being imported or exported by applying tariffs and taxes. I feel free trade is a very important aspect of the flat world and plays a huge role in globalization. Free trade allows businesses, companies and even individuals to exchange goods and services freely across the globe, and without interference from governments is endless. Many have felt free trade was a bad idea simply because many free trade initiatives start with outsourcing. As many have thought, outsourcing is taking jobs away from American workers, when in fact it is actually doing the exact opposite. Combining our efforts with other countries and sharing our thoughts are opening new doors for ideas to expand and the job pool to get even bigger. The world is catching up with us, and we need to learn to open up and learn to work together, otherwise we, as Americans, will not survive.

Friedman also talks about the middle class, and how certain middle class workers will be saved from outsourcing. These middle class workers are simply called the ‘untouchables’. Much of our economy is built on the middle class worker, and we have specialties that cannot be outsourced, as these require a human touch that no computer system can compete with. We need this working class to help everyone else understand how the business works, by working as explainers where computers are unable to do so. Our untouchables are versatile people and can operate, navigate and mobilize a multicultural job market on a multinational level.

Another term I read was when Friedman said he lives by an equation CQ + PQ > IQ. Which, when broken down means that it is more valuable to have a curiosity quotient (CQ) and passion quotient (PC) than it is to just simply have a high IQ. He would prefer to take a curious kid as a candidate because nobody works harder than a curious kid. We need to learn how to re-learn. We need innovators and students who have a passion to learn new and exciting things, and not be afraid that their job title will be new and something no one has ever heard of. As Doc Searls, one of the most respected technology writers in America once said, “in the flat new world, educational opportunities are limitless, even without help from school, government, churches or business.”

We all need to be the lemonade guy at the ball game, we need to reinvent ourselves and teach our younger generation to do the same also so that we are once again standing at the top, instead of at the bottom trying to catch up with the world.