Flattener #1—11/9/89. Not only did the 11/9/89 fall of the Berlin Wall unleash forces that ultimately liberated the captive populations of the Soviet Union, it also tipped the balance of power, worldwide, toward those advocating democratic, consensual, free-market-oriented governance. As a result, more and more economies would come to be governed from the ground up, by the interests, demands, and aspirations of the people, rather than from the top down, by the interests of narrow ruling cliques. In addition to flattening the alternatives to free-market capitalism, this event also allowed people to see the world as more of a seamless whole—a single market, ecosystem, and community. More people could tap into the knowledge pools of others, enhancing the free movement of best practices, and paving the way for the adoption of common standards. Although there is no single cause for the Wall’s demise, Friedman points to the information revolution, which began in the early to mid-1980s, as a primary factor. First, the spread of fax machines, telephones, and other modern communication tools began undermining the totalitarian system’s monopoly of information. Then, about the same time as the Wall fell, acritical mass of PCs, and the Windows operating system, came together, greatly improving horizontal communication and greatly enhancing personal empowerment and personal information gathering.Thus, the period from 11/9/89 to the mid-1990s was the age of “My machine and I can now talk to each other, better and faster, so that I can do more tasks. Moreover, my machine and I can talk better and faster to a few friends, and some other people in my company, so that we can become more productive.” Nonetheless, the age of true seamless global communication had not yet dawned.
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