

A Theory of Everything (Sort of) - jardmell
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/14/opinion/sunday/Friedman-a-theory-of-everyting-sort-of.html?ref=opinion
We are increasingly taking easy credit, routine work and government jobs and entitlements away from the middle class — at a time when it takes more skill to get and hold a decent job, at a time when citizens have more access to media to organize, protest and challenge authority and at a time when this same merger of globalization and I.T. is creating huge wages for people with global skills (or for those who learn to game the system and get access to money, monopolies or government contracts by being close to those in power) — thus widening income gaps and fueling resentments even more.
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gasull
> _While these social protests — and their flash-mob, criminal mutations like
> those in London — are not caused by new technologies per se, they are fueled
> by them._

Untrue according to the conclusions in this study:
<http://www.cepr.org/pubs/new-dps/dplist.asp?dpno=8513.asp>

There's no correlation between social media penetration and social unrest. It
would happen anyway but through traditional channels.

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diego_moita
You know, I'll be the first to admit that Friedman doesn't hesitate to ignore
any solid evidence and a look instead for the closest funny/shiny/trendy
anecdote, story or buzzword. Gosh, even Malcolm Gladwell does better
"research" than Friedman!

But presenting as counter-evidence a publication behind a pay wall is not much
better, either.

Can you provide us more details than a simple hyper-link to an abstract that
doesn't relate to your point?

~~~
ramchip
Here is the document:

<http://www.scribd.com/doc/62248736/DP8513>

I'm not sure if it's free to read or not since I may be behind a university
proxy. I think it is though, it's more or less a draft.

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fallous
<http://www.nypress.com/article-11419-flathead.html> is my general reaction to
Friedman.

~~~
tryitnow
Yes, that's my general reaction to Friedman too. This article is a bit better
than his usual thin gruel though, it mostly points out the obvious but does
time things neatly together. It's worth a quick read if you're trying to
procrastinate which is apparently my main goal this evening.

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Joshim5
And who ends up on top? Us computer scientists.

