WALMART GLOBALIZATION

Ah...NPR. So I was listening today and Fresh Air with Terry Gross had Thomas Friedman on and was interviewing him about his new book, "The World is Flat". Early on he stated that if Walmart was a country that it would be the 8th largest importer of products from China. This fact blows me away. More-so than Gov. Arnold's campaign statement that if California were a country it would be the world's 8th largest economy. Whether these facts are true or not, and it's hard to get a good gauge of this, they do represent an enormity of money involved. His book was generally described as a description of the 3rd era of economics...and globalization. It explains from his point-of-view how globalization affects the world, businesses, and individuals in modern times.

Friedman's books on the middle east have always been extremely worthwhile reading. "Longitudes and Attitudes" and "From Beirut to Jerusalem" are two of the best journalistic accounts of the middle east that I've read. Granted, I haven't read too many of these, but the writing is both comfortable and exciting at times.

Surprisingly, he supported the recent Iraq war and reiterated this on the program. Not for the removal of WMDs, but to attempt at spreading peace and democracy throughout the middle east. This, in theory, will help create a lasting peace in the Israel-Palestinian conflict and allegedly has already helped reform Libya.

Listen to the interview in the link above if you get a chance. I think it's really worthwhile for today. Also, I'm going to recommend his book, even though I haven't even read it myself yet. I can almost anticipate that it will be informative and useful in understanding the world today and in the future.

Note: Let it be known that I boycott Walmart for the sole reason that they personally censor media materials such as CDs and DVDs. I think I bought a water boiler from them several years ago. Oh, and a cheap camera when I was stranded in Tennessee during the 9-11 days. But, no more. They can screw themselves for selling processed censored material only.