Essay on Hot Flat and Crowded: Thomas Friedmans Beliefs and Assumptions

Thomas Friedman has a belief that the world is Hot, flat and crowded. The author uses the book to give an explanation as what has led to global warming and the possible solutions. It is flat regarding economic growth for many countries. The boundaries that are available to hinder people are human-made. However, the financial world has become significantly crowded. The American people are large consumers, and the situation makes the country vulnerable to many other nations to exploit. One of the countries that have benefited significantly is China. The Chinese, unlike Americans, are savers and producers. They export a lot of their products and motivate the business people in America to continue setting up shops to sell the commodities. In return, the Chinese earn more money and invest in the American treasury bills giving Americans confidence in the Federal Reserve. The Americans of the middle class, many of them can afford the luxury. When the mortgages were not paid in time, and the banks incurred losses, the Chinese factories were also affected, and the dream that Americans had of economic growth was shuttered.

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The belief that the world is hot is occasioned by the fact that most of the items that many of the homes consider basic are heavy users of energy. The demand is too much to be sustained by the environment. Global warming has become a critical problem, and many countries are facing drastic climatic changes which have led to calamities such as earthquakes and drought. The author further states that the hot factor is linked to the flat one because the accessibility of energy gives those who can afford an upper hand in the economic growth of their countries. He, however, provides a solution that the American people ought to revert the global warming menace by the creation of different sources of energy which are friendly to the environment. The effect he gives is that capitalism will come to an end if this situation comes to pass due to the inability it has to tell citizens the truth about issues that need to be solved. Thomas has a strong belief that sustainability of both economic and financial environments will lead to a more stable world (Friedman 52). In chapter seven, the book discusses how climate change has deniers who will do everything including paying other countries to downplay the idea of climate change being a global problem. Many of the conservatives do not want to be part of the issue has it may lead an increase in the regulations that have to be set up by governments to combat the biodiversity.

The last assumption is that the world is crowded which is evidenced by the fact that population growth in many of the countries throughout the world has increased. The largest number of people has led to encroachment on all the other beliefs and made them intertwined. The predictions that have been given by the UN shows that there will be an increase of more than 2.5 billion people globally in the next 45 years or so (65). The fact that ice samples collected in the 1950s show a consistent amount of carbon dioxide but the later years keep increasing in the amount is a clear indication that the technological advances that have happened are major causes of the problems that are being faced in the current world.

Thomas further describes the challenges that have faced developing countries and their contribution to the hot, flat and crowded world. Africa, for example, suffers from energy poverty which means a big number of the members of the population are not connected to power grid. The inadequacy has been occasioned by lack of fair rule. Leaders are biased in their operations, and that translates to different resource allocation. Eventually, the countries end up in war and instability. The situation does not foster economic growth, and therefore the high prices of power are not affordable to many people. Social inequality further translates to a lack of clean drinking water, lack of communication mechanisms and operation of institutions become even involved, and therefore the stability of the communities is threatened. The people become poorer and are not able to contribute economically to the flat world status and those who are able then to result in the measures such as the use of generators which make the situation worse because it promotes the hot world condition. The phenomenon raised by Thomas does only affect the developed countries.

In conclusion, the author of the book describes five major problems that have changed the world in the recent years. Increased demand for resources which has put a strain on them leading to climate change. Energy poverty which has promoted oil- rich countries to continue being global decision makers and dividing the world further in common basis. He gives an example of Saudi Arabia who is global suppliers of oil, and the situation gives them the ability to change the thinking of other leaders to share in their ideals. An accelerated rate of biodiversity loss and increased social stratification among communities is the result. All the problems that have been incurred are human-made as per his descriptions, and the solution would be for the leaders to become champions of sustainable utilization of natural resources. Green revolution would not only help in global recovery but also make America a renewed country.

Work Cited

Thomas Friedman. Hot, Flat and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution and How it Can Renew America. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008. Print.