On Balance: Globalization has a positive effect.

I'm not sure were you came up with the cutting down trees thing. .. But here is my answer to your "question[s]" Just because this hypothetical "lowly boy" is the lowest of the low, the globalized world allows him to rise from that set position. He is no longer subject to persecution and immense prejudice (albeit there is still some prejudice, but that is human nature). Due to his intelligence coupled with the new Globalized World, he can discover opportunities everywhere, especially in modern day India, where hundreds of huge modern corporations such as Dell, Microsoft, AT&T, etc. With any intelligence, he can gain a job in any of those companies and earn a great living, move to the suburbs, possibly rise through the ranks of the company and become an executive. In the old world, a boy born in the slums of India would stay in the slums of India. Multi-national corporations are not inherently bad. They provide jobs worldwide, allowing for a better standard of living for all. They do not kill off everyone through falling trees, poisoned food and other preposterous things you suggested. The loss of jobs in Europe is due to Europe's failure to accept that the world is no longer in the same Post-WWII economy it has been in for the past 60 years. They refuse to evolve with the changing job market and thus has fallen behind in our ever-changing world. Those that have stayed agile and have adapted well, such as India and China, are quickly becoming world powerhouses. If countries in Europe along with the United States can realize that they are behind the pack and are no longer the self-righteous and deserving overlords of the world, they could easily adapt and create tons of jobs. But the citizens and politicians of these soon-to-be former leaders refuse to see that the world is no longer in a labor-based economy. In order to stay competitive, countries need to alter their economies to fit the criteria I listed above: be Synthesizers, Explainers, Localizers, etc. The government should make it easier to switch jobs by making retirement benefits/health insurance less dependent on one's employer and by providing insurance that would partly cover a possible drop in income when changing jobs. Friedman also believes there should be more inspiration for youth to be scientists, engineers, and mathematicians due to a decrease in the percentage of these professionals being American/European. Countries like India and China are the opposite. They have an enormous amount of avid, young scientists, engineers, mathematicians, etc. Because of this, it is more than likely that they will overcome the U. S. in all those fields within a couple generations. These countries are entering their boom years, while the U. S. and Europe are entering their decline years. Countries need to harness the power of Globalization and use it to their advantage to rebound themselves to prevent themselves from entering into a sharp decline. The decline in the amount of jobs is due to American lack of attention. We want to believe that there is no country on earth capable of overthrowing us from our perch as self proclaimed head of the world. If we were more willing to adapt and evolve, multi-national corporations would not need to outsource to India or China. We desire too high a standard of living for corporations to be profitable. We blame the companies, yet it is our own fault.