In chapter 4, Friedman examines the blurring boundaries between companies and workers, relationships between communities, and the businesses that operate within them. He gives multiple examples how individuals and small companies are empowered to compete with large ones, such that identities become harder to define. The traditional roles of consumer, employee, citizen, taxpayer and shareholder have become blurred and intertwined.
The Great Sorting Out is a concept portrayed by Friedman in chapter four and basically what it means is the collaboration of all ten flatteners as well as the Triple convergence to create a more flattened, horizontal and frictionless world. Friedman discusses the goal of the great sorting out but saying that its purpose is to eliminate the inefficiencies in the global market, however there are both pros and cons to this process. The great sorting out will create even more convergence for the world and will flatten the world by creating a global platform integrating information which is accessible to anyone with an internet connection. However there are some drawbacks that follow with the great sorting out. For example Friedman states, ” Some obstacles to a frictionless global market are truly sources of waste and lost opportunities. But some of these inefficiencies are institutions, habits, cultures, and traditions that people cherish precisely because they reflect nonmarket values like social cohesion, religious faith, and national pride. If global markets and new communications technologies flatten those differences we may lose something important.” As I read this I derived the thought from Friedmans words that removing as much friction in the global market and removing as many inefficiencies in the world as possible is important but there are certain “inefficiencies” that will always remain important to the common people for purposes other than the global market. Simply put removing these inefficiencies that the common people hold dear to themselves and each other may have a negative effect on themselves and the communities that exist and will feel the drawbacks from the great sorting out. These frictions that exist amongst the common people such as religion and personal opinion and individuality feed the morality in common people and society and only support another one of Friedman’s thoughts as he says “Some Frictions are worth protecting, even in the face of a global economy that threatens to