De Blij: The World Is Growing Rougher, Not Flatter

by Debra Lawless

            Geographer Harm de Blij of Chatham says that for most of the people on this planet it's getting harder, not easier, to move from place to place seeking jobs, better health, and a higher standard of living.

            In other words, the world is getting "rougher," not "flatter," de Blij told an audience of about 140 gathered in the community center last Thursday evening in a talk sponsored by Eldredge Public Library's Book and Author Series.

Chatham resident and geographer Harm de Blij. He spoke at the community center last week on his new book "The Power of Place: Geography, Destiny, and Globalization's Rough Landscape."

           De Blij's new book is "The Power of Place: Geography, Destiny, and Globalization's Rough Landscape" (Oxford). De Blij said the genesis of the book was a trip he took to Cornwall, England. He brought along Thomas Friedman's bestseller "The World Is Flat" to ensure he had something to do should the famous English rains fall. As it rained, de Blij read. Friedman's thesis is basically that with the rise of telecommunications, including the web, and with a lowering of trade and political barriers, we are all in a global economy waiting to be exploited by the enterprising. As de Blij sums up Friedman's book, "If you can't make it in this world it's your fault. Just move."

            De Blij takes a contrary stand and said he and Friedman share "a lively e-mail exchange."

            "What percent of the population of the planet today does not live in the country of its birth?" he asked. The answer is 2.98 percent. "Ninety-seven percent of us on cruiseship earth are going to die in or very close to the cabin in which we were born."

            In his book, De Blij contends that geography truly is destiny. "Those of us who are lucky enough to be born in this country have a surfeit of advantages the rest of the world has never seen," he said. "Where you are born has a great deal to do with what you become."

            De Blij was for seven years geography editor on ABC's "Good Morning America" and is the author of more than 30 books on geography including “Why Geography Matters” (Oxford 2005). Last year de Blij published a vivid memoir, “Wartime Encounter” (Hudson River Publishing), describing the first 10 or so years of his life, which he spent in occupied Holland in a state of extreme deprivation and tension.

            In "The Power of Place" de Blij looks specifically at nine factors, including health, gender, language, religion and geography, that determine our destinies. He devoted the bulk of his 40-minute talk to examining how some of those affect our lives.

            He divides the population into three groups: global — us --- a minority group of 15 percent; locals --- the great majority; and "mobals" --- migrants who have crossed an international border and lived outside their homeland for a year or more.

            In speaking of language, de Blij cites his own case. He was born in Holland, and as a Dutch speaker moved to South Africa at age 13, after World War II. He knew no English but soon learned it, enabling him to enjoy a global career as a geographer, lecturer and academic. He argues that those born in English-speaking countries already have a leg up on those born in non-English speaking countries.

            "English today is the Latin of the latter day," he said. English has an advantage of being a "relatively simple" language to master, and it is also malleable so that in China they are speaking "Chenglish." While English is on the ascent, languages are dying out at the rate of two a month in remote tropical areas.

            "If you have children, grandchildren, encourage them at least to become bilingual," de Blij advised.

            He also touched on the dangerous rise of fundamentalism in all of the world's religions.

            "If I said tonight 'I'm an atheist,' I don't think I'd have a problem making it to my car," he said, illustrating that Western civilization can accommodate conflicting ideas without resorting to violence.

            Health is another factor that influences destiny. "In West Africa your chances of escaping four or five debilitating diseases of which malaria is only one are incalculable," he said. Several years ago when he took students to Mombasa one student remarked that a construction worker leaning on a shovel in the street was "lazy" and that this attitude helped make Africa "the dark continent."

            "I said, 'Do you realize that person is likely to have four or five endemic diseases?'" de Blij recalled. These would include malaria, hookworm, Bilharzia and hepatitis.

            De Blij also noted that whether you're born male or female plays a crucial role in your life.

            "Why is it that even in our modern society women have a distinctly inferior position in society?" he asked.

            De Blij noted that megacities of 60 or 70 million people --- "whole new human environments" --- will rise in the future. "We're on the threshold of a completely new way of organizing ourselves," he said.

            He ended the talk on a note of optimism and with a challenge. "We still are the single superpower in the world and it behooves us to move forward on these issues," he said.

10/9/08