America and free trade:
Is Ricardo still right?

The text is an extract from a book called The World Is Flat written by Thomas Loren Friedman. A 58 years old American journalist, columnist and author, who writes for The New York Times. The book is from 2004 and analyzes globalization, primarily in the early 21st century. This extract focuses on whether free trade is an advantage or a disadvantage for America as a whole. To discuss this he uses the English economist David Ricardo, who developed Adam Smith’s theory of an open market, where every nation specializes in their comparative advantage, and in the end it will benefit all nations.
A visit to Bangalore, India, Dalian, and China, gave Friedman new insights. These visits are what led him into writing the book on how the globalization is continuing to develop and which problems it might cause in the process.
One of Friedman’s number one worries are his kids. How will they ever be able to compete with the “zippies”? They are so fast, effective and eager to work. How will his kids ever compete with that? Here Friedman uses pathos. “How in the world can it possibly be good for my daughters and millions of other young Americans that these Indians can do the same job as they can for a fraction of the wages?” (Page 141, line 33-35)
But Friedman is not really concerned. The reason he does this is to reach out to other parents who asks the exact same questions. Friedman is a proponent of globalization, and his purpose is to convince for example parents that it will not affect their kids. He is a parent too, but there is no need to worry. If he were childless, some parents might think that he was an old cynical man, who only interests in money and how to make the society more powerful.
Throughout the extract he keeps a discussion going with him self. He argues for and against free trade, but at the end of every argument against free trade, he ends up concluding that he is for. At a point he talks about how he would not like to see any American loose her/his job to Indians. At this point he uses ethos. It is not fair or ethical correct if anyone looses his/her job to someone else, only because it will benefit the state. But again he concludes that a free trade will create more jobs in the longer run, and that it will help improve the living standards for more people.
There are several places in the extract where Friedman uses logos. He puts other economists or sages to use to support his arguments or conclusions, to make his statements more trustworthy. “I come down where the great majority of economists come down…” (Page 141, lines 51-52), “Here, argues Stanford new economy specialist Paul Romer…” (Page 143, line 96)
He also uses concrete and simple examples to prove his statements right. After Friedman concludes that American individuals are better of with an open market and free trade, he explains why. To make his explanation more clear, so that more people is able to understand his point of view, he uses a simple explanation on page 142 from line 66-82, “Let me illustrate this with a simple example. Imagine that there are only to countries in the world – America and China…”
After this explanation he comes ahead of the reader by assuming that they will ask a certain question “What do you mean, don’t worry?” By doing this he shows that he has been thinking the same question, and again that he cares and worries. And then by giving a concrete answer to the question, the reader feels safe and heard.
Then he uses logos again by giving another simple example on page 143 line 108-115, “If we go from a world in which there were fifteen drug companies and fifteen software companies in America…”
When I first read the title I assumed Friedman was against Ricardo and the free trade, because of the question mark. If the title was “Ricardo is still right” which is what he concludes at the end, some would not bother read the text because it is all written in the title. Another reason for the question mark is that it shows how he has been thinking about it, and that he has not already made a conclusion, even though he has. It is a very good idea that he starts with a question, because it show the process of being in doubt, analyzing, discussing and then concluding, and deciding.
This extract is written first of all to inform people about globalization and the free trade. It is also written to assure people that there is no need to fear globalization and the free trade. This extract is written to the elderly, to adults and young adults who are interested in politics, their society and their future. It is written to the small nations as well as the big nations, and it is written to the worried mothers as well as the well-educated knowledge workers and the less educated low-skilled workers. Friedman’s interest lies with all of these different people. His interest lies with America as a unit but also the individual citizen. It also lies with the rest of the world. He explains how he wishes for better living standards for everyone, and how he wishes to see all nations grow bigger, and the whole world to grow more complex.