In our second lesson the focus of the lesson was on Technology, Society and Global Dominance, this included a brief discussion on the dimensions of global dominance , such as Social, Cultural etc...and some talk on the reading material , namely on the colonial holocaust. this indeed provided a very fresh, non- Eurocentric view of how the Europeans colonized the "savages" In the second part of the lesson the class went on to discuss about human and technology, there we discussed about what is human development and also had an interesting discussion about the rising equality of women throughout the world and the possible implications of that.
And interesting point in the lesson that took my attention was the simple model which we were introduced to by the proff. This triangle shaped model showed how both countries and even companies can become dominant leaders in their respective fields and what were the factors associated with both these " rising" and " falling" stars .which leads to the Observation : societies and organisations at different stages of innovation leadership and tech dominance display very different behavioral truths . This also lead to an interesting debate on weather the USA was a rising or falling star. In my opinion, the USA would probably a falling star that has just started it's decent down. This has been greatly accelerated by the current economic recession which has caused the Us government to go deeper into debt, with the government spending spiraling out of control, a political system that can only agree to disagree, it seems very likely the flagship of democracy is losing steam. AS the government will eventually have to scaled down on it's spending, the mighty American military will slowly down size and eventually lose it's status as a superpower. In terms of it's economy, the deleveraging that is occurring in the system is likely to prevent any surge in economic growth as the government has little room to boost spending or support new industries, since it has already chosen to float industries which are starting to see it's sunset, namely the car industry in the USA. Unless the US can settle it's economic woes in the next few years ( ie: keep it's healthcare In check, settle it's housing market and it's national debt ) it seems very likely that people will soon start to loose confidence in the US economy and the almighty dollar. Which would probably mark the end of the era of US dominance.
Another key takeaway would be on how technology has help women rise to power in the workplace and given them equal opportunities . It is indeed very interesting that the contraceptive pill has indeed played a part in helping women enter the workforce. This was a very basic fact that I have always overlooked. Also with the advent of more machines to aid in household chores, such as the dishwasher, and even the automated vacuum clean . It has allowed women to be freed of their overly stereotyped role of having to stay at home and to the house hold chores. What was most interesting about this topic however was the question of what we MEN should be doing ? I would probably have to say that we guys would probably have to start taking up a bigger role in the house in light of all the calls for equality and women's rights these day. (which totally sucks)
One of the key issue I wish could have been be discussed in further detail would be how would the transition of China taking over the US as the dominant global player could possibly play out and what are the implications that the rest of the world would face when that happens. Also, would it be possible for the US to climb back up to become a dominant global power once it has lost it's status?
Lastly, My personal rating for this session would be 8/10
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