A Small Place
"How do they afford such a car? And do they live in a luxurious house to match such a car? Well, no. You will be surprised, then, to see that most likely the person driving this brand-new car filled with the wrong gas lives in a house that, in comparison, if far beneath the status of the car." p7.
Even though most cars that are driven in Antigua are new, expensive Japanese cars, the people who drive them are not as wealthy as the car that they drive. This is a signifier because they are getting imported products from out of the country, creating a market of globalization. Unlike Americans or other wealthier countries, the people of Antigua has never heard of non-leaded gasoline, in which they only use leaded gasoline to fill the cars. It tells the reader that even in a small place, people in Antigua are still having connections to other countries outside of their own and they are worthy of being known to the rest of the world. This also tells us that the world is flat because if it wasn't, then a developing country like Japan would have never gave their cars to such a small country whose government is not very stable. If the world was round, then Japan would not have made its way around the globe to export their cars to Antigua.
The World is Flat
"We were sitting on the couch of Nilekani's office, waiting for the TV crew to set up its cameras. At one point, summing up the implications of all this, Nilekani uttered a phrase that rang in my ear. He said to me, ' Tom, the playing field is being leveled'." (p.7)
This is a globalization signifier because when playing, let us say King of the Hill, those who are at the top of the hill will have the power and those at the bottom will have to fight their way up to be the king of the hill. Those at the top have more advantage and are most likely to survive. But when the hill becomes more leveled with the land, the others will get more chances to be king and it will be like a cycle. At one time, a person would be the king, the next a different person will be king. Overall the meaning of what Nilekansi had said was that other countries would never have the chance to compete equally with those of wealthier countries if their factors of production are not as well of as them and one of the factors of productions is land. The playing field, representing the land ( the world), is being leveled so that all countries will have a chance to be "king" once.
I like your interpretations of these two phrases from the book. I'm not sure if I would agree with the 'King' aspect of your second phrase, but I do agree on the concept of it. Since the playing field of the world is becoming leveled, different countries have a chance to come out on top, but I think that different countries can come out on top in their own way, so not one is in control of the others. Like production of certain products, or creation of certain inventions will be from different countries, and will be produced more in their country of origin, but since the playing field is being leveled these creations will be able to be used world-wide.
ReplyDeleteBut I do agree that money comes into play with a country being on top, and unfortunately other countries still want to be 'king' to other countries.
You made an interesting point about the cars being Antigua's connection to other parts of the world. When I read this passage I mostly thought about how the cars stick out and seem out of place in Antigua (a definite globalization signifier). However, your point helps us to look at other sides of globalization. I'm not sure, though, that by driving these cars the Antiguans feel "worthy" to other countries. They are driving these cars because their government gets profit from the sales, and thus the government makes it easy to get a loan for these cars.
ReplyDeleteThe analogy of King of the Hill is a good example leveling the playing field around the world. Not only does this give other countries, economies etc a chance but it means that they won't be the under dogs anymore. For so long countries like the United States and Japan have been leading in wealth and power, but China has come a long way and is now becoming a more powerful country than what it used to be.
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