Bill Gates is Britney Spears

This morning I had one of those convergence moments...when something I read last night was perfectly relevant today (just like when you learn a new word you invariably hear it within 24 hours).

I've been reading the World is Flat (which deserves it's own entry and probably several of them, but I haven't worked up the courage to open that can of worms yet. The short version: Friedman argues that several factors have converged to "flatten" the world, or rather the global economic playing field, as technology and several other factors makes it possible for more people to participate in the economy from more places.) and last night I read a chapter on "The Quiet Crisis" or the unacknowledged problem the US is facing as it moves into this flattened economy, specifically gaps in connectivity, education, and governance.

Or as Friedman puts it, "In China today, Bill Gates is Britney Spears. In America today, Britney Spears is Britney Spears - and that is our problem."

And wouldn't you know - this morning, one of my girls asked me to read one of the books I picked out at the library for them, called Bill Gates, which I had just grabbed as a biography. Until we read it together and I realized that Friedman is right! This was a kid's book, meant to instill a sense of awe and diligence in these kids, with a glossary in the back for words like "program" and "Microsoft". And a final sentence which says, "Bill Gates is the richest man in the world, but he still works because work is the most important thing possible."

So one point for Friedman. In China (and in the Asian country that I'm in), Bill Gates is Britney Spears.