The Most Appealing Ideas Expressed by the Author
In his book, The Flight of the Creative Class, Richard Florida focuses on a fascinating phenomenon that has emerged relatively recently – the rise of the creative class. According to the author’s idea, the creative class is represented by a multitude of individuals who choose to pursue creative careers in a variety of fields. For instance, the creative class includes makeup artists, software developers, finance managers, scientists, content creators, technologists, among others.
To be more precise, everyone whose work is based on their creative talent in some area belongs to the creative class. Florida maintains that, at present, the creative class is becoming one of the most densely populated segments of the workforce in the global labor market. Also, this segment is recognized as one of the most profitable in terms of income they are able to generate in their workplaces.
In this book, Florida addressed the modern leaders of the United States of America, who, according to the author’s opinion, have made a serious of missteps that led to the establishment of an uncomfortable and unwelcoming environment for the creative class. It is interesting that the author compares the social conditions in the country before and after the events of 9/11 and concludes that due to the extreme security measures, foreign talent was seen a number of obstacles in the way towards the United States.
Practically, the author warns the leaders and authorities of this country writing that because of the harsh treatment of foreign workers here, they started to prefer other developed countries as places to find employment. It was also a clever idea to present the matter with humor in order to make the book focused on quite a serious topic easier and more pleasant to read. In addition to the warning for the US leaders about the features that drive valuable talent away, the author also provides a discussion of the conditions that tend to attract it. The approach of the author could be called upstream due to his vision of a bigger picture and a clear idea of what kind of problems the country may face if its creative class becomes smaller, weaker, and outperformed by that of other developed countries.
The Implications of The Ideas in the Book for Me as an Educator
As an educator, I found this book rather interesting in terms of a critical approach to the sets of skills and abilities taught in schools today. Specifically, it was fascinating to learn about the phenomenon of the creative class and about the change in modern society that facilitated this shift in the workforce. In the 20th century, service jobs were used to represent the largest segment of the labor force.
As a result, some of the most common and widely spread professions included manual labor and engagement in some kind of production. Today, this has changed, and intellectual laborers are deemed the most valuable. As a result, many young individuals who seek employment focused on creative professions.
The creative class is highly beneficial to the country that hosts it not only because of the income it generates but also due to the progress that comes along with the presence of a population of creative professionals in the region. These days, the presence and growth of the creative class are associated mainly with the prosperity of the country. As a result, as it has become difficult for the United States to attract its creative class from abroad, it may be high time to start preparing a domestic segment of this class.
The change has to start from educators and educational facilities whose role is to train the future job seekers and provide them with skills that are the most relevant and valuable in the modern society. In that way, by concentration on the adaptation of the contemporary curriculums so that they could focus more on the development of student’s creativity, the American education system could foster a unique change by helping its future workforce match the high standards of the globalizing world.
The Ideas That I Challenge
The author of this book explores a rather interesting idea that could potentially bring significant benefits to the American economy. The change that the author proposes is a long-term process that aims at the creation of a new addition to the current workforce in the United States. However, regardless of the incredible vision behind this idea and its clever practical application, the discussion fostered by Florida lacks one important aspect.
Calling for the attention of the modern American leaders and explaining the tendency that has been happening in the local workforce over the last decade and a half, the author proposes a series of smart solutions to the problem. However, it would take a rather long time for all of them to be put into practice. The fearful and extremely careful attitude to safety and security in the globalizing world has made the leaders of the United States quite reluctant when it comes to letting in large groups of people from abroad.
As a result, it is possible that something could be done to address this problem at a lower level. For example, the book by Florida could benefit from some practical advice or recommendation as to what needs to be done right now in order to improve the current situation. Specifically, this book could target educators in order to introduce some strategies applicable in schools that could facilitate the creation of a stronger creative class in the country.