A Flat World Indeed

That's what happens when a watchdog group can publish a list of 'freedom predators' and gain world wide attention.

That's the power of the flat world. Just imagine if students banded together to blog about miserable educational experiences. How quickly would that get people all worked up? How quickly would it lead to change?

Friedman gives a great example in his book. One state - I think it was Texas (imagine that) gave the green light to billion dollar company to go ahead and produce 12 coal plants. Despite heavy opposition from environmental groups, they company had the backing of the governor and was going to go straight ahead and build the plants.

Well, the watchdog group began an ultra-aggressive blog/email campaign to all executives, government officials, and news channels.

Suddenly, there was a ton of negative press surrounding this incident.

Ultimately, another company stepped in to purchase the original company (for billions of dollars). But they had one caveat: they wanted to sit down and meet with these damn tree huggers who were out to save the damn world on their blogs and laptops.

Imagine that - billionaires sitting down with a group of individuals who had no money on the table. They just had the internet and their campaign.

The new owners conceded to building three plants instead of twelve and subjecting their plants to constant monitoring.

Not bad from a group of damn tree huggers out to save the world on their blogs and laptops and who had no money on the table! They just did it because they believed in their cause and were motivated.