Minutes of the
President Bell called the
meeting to order at
Members present: Jack Bolen,
John Sessums, Ira Ward, Marty Miller, Ed Neugaard, Cy Gamber,
Welcome
guests: Prospective members Chuck Hawley,
Calvin Martin, seven cadets and their guests, as well as Commander Walsh from
Brandon High, Sgt. Major from Hillsborough, and the area Army recruiter.
The President asked the
cadets introduced their guests.
The minutes of the March
meeting were approved.
Secretary’s Report
The
secretary reminded the members that the FLSSAR annual meeting will be next
weekend, April 24-25. Eight changes to the society bylaws as printed in the
Patriot magazine will be considered. He offered to discuss these with
interested parties during the luncheon or after the meeting.
We still have a few schools to cover regarding JROTC
awards ceremonies. The secretary has the master list and details for those
interested.
A personal letter was written to the SAR Executive
Director, Joe Harris, regarding the Center for Advancing America’s Heritage
discussion held in March. It was thought a personal note, rather than a formal
letter from the chapter would be the best approach. No response has been
received as yet.
The Treasurer reported a
balance of $2,705.12 and petty cash of $59.84.
The registrar, Luke Lloyd, emailed
his report to the secretary which was shared with the membership.
“On
49
Potential Members are in the lineup
4
Applications are at National
Beatty
Copeland
- Original Receipt Date at National 26 Nov 08; Pended 2 Mar 09; Info
Provided 17 March 09 - No Answer to date
Hawley
Sessums
1
Application for LG Bassett forwarded 12 April from State to National.
No
Supplementals currently in the Mill”
President Bell reported that
the Color Guard had two events planned, the 4th of July parade in
Lutz and the presentation to the scouts discussed earlier.
The meeting recessed for lunch.
The
President reconvened the meeting and introduced Secretary Yarnell to provide
the program. Entitled: “A Flat World:
The Role of Technology in Maintaining Freedom”, the presentation was inspired
by the book “The World is Flat” by Thomas L. Friedman. In the book Freidman
argues that technology is “flattening” the world and the implications of this
are many. The goals of the program were to first look at what is meant by the term
“flat world”, and then examine some of the consequences of this for us
personally and then to the larger issue of the maintenance of our freedoms.
The following are adapted
from the speaker’s notes:
What is a “flat world”?
The adults will liken this
to a “shrinking world” thinking in terms of the vast changes in the speed of
communications. The speaker made a comparison between the time needed for
communication in the Revolutionary period and the present. But what Friedman
refers to is more “leveling the playing field”- a situation where people in
many parts of the world have access to the same tools and therefore can compete
nearly equally in a global marketplace.
The 10 “Flatteners”
Friedman lists these ten
events / items as the things that have combined to flatten the earth. The
speaker did not spend a great deal of time on each but did offer illustrations
where needed to clarify the thought for the audience.
1.
2.
3. Work flow software
4. Uploading – harnessing
the power of communities
To
illustrate this the speaker shared the story of Goldcorp given in the book. Rob McEwen, CEO of Goldcorp; owed a tract in
Another
excellent example of “uploading” is Wikipedia which
the speaker explained more to the benefit of the adults than the youth in
attendance.
5. Outsourcing – hiring a
firm in another part of the world to do a specific job for your company
6. Offshoring
– moving the entire manufacturing process to another country
7. Supply-chaining
The
best illustration of this is Walmart and the concept
is well expressed by this quote from the book. “Walmart
is the biggest retail company in the world, and it does not make a single
thing.”
8. Insourcing
The
book uses
9. In-forming – Web search
A
brief comparison between the access to information experienced by the members
as youth and the cadets’ experience today brought this point into clear focus.
10. The steroids: digital,
mobile, personal, and virtual
Friedman argues that these items bring the previous
flatteners down to a level where the individual is impacted personally.
What does all of this converge to?
- A world where information
is widely available to those who want it
- A world that rewards
collaboration
- A world where people from
vastly different parts of the world can compete for the same job
- And much more
What does this mean for us personally?
In short, the speaker
suggested the answer here is enormous opportunities and enormous challenges. As
with so many things it is how we use something that determines whether it is
good or bad. He offered some specific ramifications: One for the adults – we may
need to change how we view outsourcing and protectionism; and one for the youth
– the issue of employability vs. a job for life
What does a flat world mean politically?
Friedman makes a fascinating
case to suggest that, at least in part, the unrest in the Arab-Muslim world and
the rise of extreme elements is due to a lack of opportunity in a flat world.
In particular he suggests that “This anger also has to do with the frustration
of Arabs and Muslims at having to live, in many, many cases, under
authoritarian governments, which not only deprive their people of a voice in
their own future, but have deprived tens of millions of young people in
particular of opportunities to achieve their full potential through good jobs
and modern schools. The fact that the flat world enables people so easily to
compare their circumstances with other only sharpens their frustrations.”
The speaker shared some of
Friedman’s statistics from the book showing how Arab countries are behind the
rest of the world in international patents, average number of scientists and
engineers working in research and development, numbers of computers, and
Internet access.
Conflict Prevention
Friedman offers two
interesting theories on preventing conflicts in the world. His first, the Golden
Arches Theory of Conflict Prevention, stated “No 2 countries that both had
McDonald’s had ever fought a war against each other since each got its
McDonald’s”. He refined this later to he Dell Theory of Conflict Prevention
which states “No 2 countries that are both part of a major global supply chain,
like Dell’s, will ever fight a ware against each other as long as they are both
part of the same global supply chain”.
The speaker used the
Are we for or against a flat
world?
The
speaker then moved to the question of where our ancestors would have “approved”
of a flat world. He concluded that they would favor the wider dissemination of
knowledge and the power which this gives to citizens. He shared several quotes
reprinted below and remarked on the ease with which he’d been able to find
these as a small illustration of flattener #9, In-forming.
“I
would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than
to those attending too small a degree of it.”
Thomas Jefferson to Archibald Stuart, 1791
“The
only security of all is in a free press. The force of public opinion cannot be
resisted when permitted freely to be expressed. The agitation it produces must
be submitted to.” Thomas Jefferson to
“Knowledge
will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors
must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.” James Madison
“When
you're finished changing, you're finished.” Ben Franklin
Where do we go now?
The speaker concluded with
some thoughts directed as each age group in attendance. For the adults he
suggested that the key to our future success was to continue learning,
thinking, and applying new skills to tried principles. We need to use the flat
world to further our freedoms.
For the youth the speaker
ended with a quote from the book. “… so my advice to [my daughters] in this
flat world is very brief and very blunt: ‘Girls, when I was growing up, my
parents used to say to me, ‘Tom, finish your dinner – people in
The speaker then moved from
the program into the presentation of awards pointing out that the unit
commanders chose these cadets for the qualities of character and leadership
demonstrated in their units. “We know that isn’t always easy to do and so the
chapter wants you to know how much we appreciate your efforts. So the next time
you get a bit discouraged, you’re tired, you don’t feel like doing whatever it
is that you know needs to be done, we hope you’ll remember that there is a
group of men who value their heritage and value the work you do in perpetuating
the ideas of our founding fathers.”
The President presented the
awards to the cadets.
Alan Bell won the 50/50
drawing. The chapter’s share of $11.00
will enrich the treasury.
Jack Bolen gave the
benediction. The President led the recessional and adjourned the meeting at
Respectfully submitted,
Kevin Yarnell
Chapter Secretary