Is America On The Right Path?
It's been six years since 9-11 and the question everyone is asking is, "are we safer"? All the news channels are filling air time with the multi sides of that issue. What we can all agree upon is that 9/11 changed our country. For as far as I can see into the future, there will always be a pre-9/11 America and a post-9/11 America. That's just the most recent change to our country. Factor in the immigration boom the country has undergone over the last few decades that has further influenced the nation (when I was born there were 1/3 fewer people in this country), the advent of the Internet, the rise of media conglomerates and the 500 channel TV, and so many other things make evident that this is not the same country I grew up in.
Let's take stock of the current American landscape in a few key areas.
A recent report by the National Academies for Medicine, Engineering & the Sciences argued that the scientific and technical building blocks of our economic leadership are eroding at a time when many nations are gathering strength. Although we are still doing well we seem to be setting ourselves up for failure in the future by not making the right investments and by not implementing the right policies in this area. My concern is that if more of us are not aware of this we will not elect the leaders who are also aware of it and can do something about it.
Henry Paulson, the U.S. Secretary of Treasury predicted that by 2045 China will supplant America as the world's largest economy. Due to the size and ambition of the Chinese population that may be inevitable. But it doesn't have to mean that America loses its dominant place in the world. In fact, if American business is the main driver of investment in China many of the Chinese profits could come our way. There of course are leaders and business people in our country who see this but compared to the number of leaders in the public and private sectors in most other industrialized nations I'm afraid we're behind the eight ball. Americans have a reputation for having the least understanding of international matters and most mistaken view of themselves (ourselves) of any population on the globe. If the perceptions are correct how can we compete in a world we understand so little?
Most people I speak with from other countries about world affairs speak of America's world dominance in the past tense. No kidding! They don't simply predict America is on the path to less relevance. They tend to believe the only country in the world that doesn't recognize America's dominance truly is in the past tense is America itself. Of course that's not quite true since America still holds more sway than any other nation on Earth but we are being seen by the rest of the world as less and less relevant, kind of like a lame-duck leader. Our term in office is up and everyone's already thinking about the next power-to-be and only dealing with us because they have to until its official. It used to be that America was the dog that wagged the tail. That's not so true anymore.
Another interesting point is that America is no longer attracting the best and brightest minds from many of the world's developing nations. If this trend continues America will lose one of the advantages that has contributed to our rise on the world stage. I recently saw an interesting statistic. China and Japan together graduate 950,000 engineers every year compared with just 70,000 in the U.S., and many of those are actually foreign students who no longer stay in the U.S. after graduation because they can now earn a good living back in their home countries. India has invested in education so heavily that its institutions of scientific education are starting to be considered almost on par with MIT.
I want to note that America has bounced back from perceived leadership threats before. In the late 1950's after Russia launched Sputnik. In the early 70's when high oil prices made western Europe and the Middle East seem dominate and in the mid 80's when everything new and good seemed to be made in Japan. But I don't see our current crop of leaders overly concerned about America's position in the world. Growing up we were all told that America was the greatest country on the planet and to thank God we were born in the land of the free. I agree that on balance America remains the greatest country in the world but we are falling behind in so many key areas it is very concerning and it's difficult to see how we will hold that title for much longer if current trends continue. In all fairness we have to recognize that America is no longer dominant in an increasing number of key areas. We seem to be losing our edge.
It's hard to convince many Americans of this when we've grown up believing we're unrivaled. We don't tend to apply much introspection to our national affirmations. We repeat them and recite them as if they are unchangeable. But they are not and our country has become complacent. We are allowing ourselves to be overtaken. It's hard to get ourselves motivated when our politicians get elected for telling us how great we are and can't get elected if they so much as question our hold on world leadership and our position of unrivaled greatness and unequaled standard of living. To question it is to be considered un-American or unpatriotic. And it's hard for most Americans to know the difference anyway since only 21 percent of us have passports and a large portion of those that do are foreign-born. In fact, I read somewhere (but can't verify) that only about 1/3 of the members of Congress have passports. If true, how can they lead us in the ever-more-complex world in which we live? Globalization means we now compete on a global playing field and apparently most of our leaders haven't even been outside of our own locker room. Those who have never been out of the country (and I don't mean just across the borders of Canada and Mexico) really have difficulty understanding just how rivaled we really are and in what areas we've already fallen behind. Reading statistics isn't enough. You have to see it, feel it and experience it to really "get" it. We need leaders who get it!
On to other indicators of the path we're on (these not so bleak). The U.S. today produces 29 percent of the world's economic output up from 22 percent 25 years ago. That's an impressive gain. The World Economic Forum still ranks America first in technology and innovation, first for corporate research and development spending and first for the quality of its research institutions. The United Nations said a week or so ago that the U.S. is first in worker productivity but also first in number of hours worked.
Our society seems however to be getting more superficial.
Esther Dyson says that instead of admiring academics and scientists, astronauts, leaders and war heroes as we did a generation or two ago we now admire and emulate celebrities and movie stars, people who get lucky on TV shows and sports heroes (although I think we've always admired the latter).
In short, since the economic boom of the '80s we've clearly become a society of instant gratification, one that is unwilling to work toward less immediate goals, the kind building a country requires.
Our leadership, instead of encouraging us to reach beyond ourselves and lead the way to the future tends to appeal to our desire for this instant gratification by saying, "Vote for me and I'll make it easy" or "I'll give you instant results."
Without a doubt we have become a nation driven and heavily influenced by the media. We in the entertainment industry can and should harness that to send a better message; one that builds rather than destroys.
On to a related subject, did everyone see the video clip that recently made the rounds of Miss South Carolina in the Miss Teen USA Pageant? Click here to check it out!
While I realize that she has since said she was so nervous she didn't hear the question and that this probably isn't an indicator of the average level of sophistication most of our high schoolers have these days, I do think, that we need to make major changes to our school systems.
Speaking of rankings the U.S. is losing ground in education, as peers across the globe zoom by with bigger gains in student achievement and school graduations. I found an AP article that says:
"Among adults aged 25 to 34, the U.S. is ninth among industrialized nations in the share of its population that has at least a high school degree. In the same age group, the United States ranks seventh, with Belgium, in the share of people who hold a college degree. By both measures, the United States was first in the world as recently as 20 years ago."
Dyson says we need more competition and more excitement in our schools. People need to be heralded not just for artistic creativity but also for technical and scientific creativity.
In a recent speech at an Intel Plant in Rio Rancho, New Mexico George W. Bush said, "With the right policy we can compete with anybody anytime anywhere. It's been the history of America and it's gonna be the future of America. We should not fear the future 'cause we intend to shape it."
That's a tough sell to less high tech locales such as North Carolina, for example whose economy is based largely on textiles, furniture and agriculture and has seen 61 percent of its jobs go to China and Malaysia in recent years. But at least North Carolina is fighting back. Governor Mike Easley is overhauling his state's educational system in an aggressive initiative to create a 21st century work force.
I agree with those that believe we need to start expecting academic rigor from all students not just some students; re-tooling teachers, re-thinking curriculum and redesigning schools so that a much larger percentage of ninth graders graduate and graduate with courses that lead them to college. It's my understanding that currently North Carolina loses 1/3 of its students in grades 9 to 12.
I also agree with those who say we should blend the relevance of the workplace with education so students see, feel and experience how their studies are going to translate into higher paychecks, a better standard of living individually and a stronger economy for the future.
The United States has historically always held the leading positions because we have the best system in the world. Our people aren't inherently more intelligent, more fit, or somehow genetically superior. It's our system and the structure of our society that has always brought out in us the best of ourselves. It has harnessed our desire for a better life and made it possible for our individual ambitions to be met. Our system has allowed us to excel and if that is now changing it is due to two phenomena. The first: other countries are adopting the best policies that used to only exist in the U.S. and are now using them to compete with us. The American Dream is no longer uniquely American as healthy and robust middle classes emerge and thrive in countries all over the world while ours is under attack by our own policies. The second phenomenon is that our leaders are making changes to our winning system to benefit the few whereas it used to benefit a much larger percentage of the population and that is limiting us in some areas that made us great. Our leaders are not navigating the new, globalized and connected world as well as many other nations. Some of those nations competing against us have taken the best policies that America invented and then made improvements upon them to adapt to a new world while we have not.
We need to elect leaders who can see this and can do something about it!
So this brings me to the end of my tirade. While I recognize the importance of safety, instead of asking ourselves the fear-driven question of whether or not America is safer this September 11th than we were six years ago I think we need to ask ourselves the more general question; the question that applies more to our long term safety, influence and economic prosperity: Is America on the right path?
I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas.
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To miramate et al. The brain migration to us in and after WW II was significant. But our leders recognized their talents and potential and used them to the fullest. Also, before the War, German agents came to our decentralized, scattered factories of peacetime endeavor and stole innovations that completed the technological advancements necessary to make "blitz krieg" possible.
At that momentous time our wealth resided in manufacturing and small productive enterprises managed by growing and developing managers and members.
We went astray by our government permitting Wall Street bankers, stock brokers and money changers to prevail over manufacturing and productivity. This wanton change brought profits from formulas and paper transactions rather than physical effort and sweat fortified by rational thinking. Easy money brought inflated prices supporting the illusion that the economy was flourishing and our citizens were on top of the world.
The leaders of nations who were expropriating our manufacturing and technology for themselves knew better. Now our national security and democratic existence is endangered.
All is not lost. We must simply undo, and decentralize our governing, manufacturing and technological functions while "forcing" our brilliant University minds that are now vegetating, to bear on those issues that are compelled to resurrect human growth and development and the rebirth of our citizens' unlinited opportunity with sacrifice.
Well, to evaluate successfully what 'the right track' is, you have to go out, and solicit a myriad of views, and not just listen to the people that've profited so massively by buying favor for themselves and their business ambitions. Roll the tape back to Enron, MCI, and the other colossal business failures of recent times, and if you REALLY have a lot of spare time on your hands, even go back and reevaluate the savings and loan collapse of years past.
We do a lot of things for money, people work double shifts and put themselves so deeply in hock that they'll never see daylight so long as they might live, and there's peeps out there in business-land who are perfectly OK with that.
In recent times, when the greed-fest has burst here and there, there's been crocodile tears shed, lofty promises made against future misconduct, and then everyone goes back to their stock portfolio for the next round of socio-economic engineering. Meanwhile, the 'american consumer', nee 'voter' or 'citizen' faces the dark specter of colossal
bodies in motion that think it's perfectly all right to slice up the country and sell it to the highest bidder. All bets are off, and you can take your petitions and fold them up until they're all nice pointy corners and dispose of
them in a manner most fitting,
there, 'citizen'.
the authoritarian mindset that we see manifesting itself in the media these days.
So, we come to the Constitution itself, and its
ultimate relevance to political goings-on of the
21st century, only to discover that multitudes
of people that've darkened Congress' doors in
years past basically barely acknowledged its'
existence in pro forma fashion in their Quest
For The Big Buxx. It's all about the benjamins,
now, profit trumps principle, and the results are fairly predictabl
"Growing up we were all told that America was the greatest country on the planet and to thank God we were born in the land of the free. I agree that on balance America remains the greatest country in the world .... and it's difficult to see how we will hold that title for much longer if current trends continue. "
Ehrmm...no
I think this quote sums up the schizophrenia that has always existed in America. What the Bush Administration has done in the last 7 years is not a departure from US govt policy; it simply is more blatant and obvious.
THe US has waged illegal war against sovereign nations, caused economic instability through its World Bank policies and manipulated regions by supporting the "wrong guy",
(heinous dictators that oppress and kill their people) all in the name of maintaining supremacy in a region (Latin America, Asia, etc.)and protecting American corporations abroad. What made it all go down easy for the victims has been the lure of American culture:movies, music, fashion, etc.
As a naturalized American having straddled two cultures it has always amazed me how completely clueless Americans are about their govt's actions and the perception of these actions on the world stage.Ther
America's marginalization was expedited by Bush's horrific policies but America's decline was a matter of course. The superpower label was always code for "bully".
The changes that have overtaken other regions have been dramatic such as in Latin America. The election of progressives/ moderate conservative governments that act independent of US and strengthen economic alliances elsewhere in China, or European Union,is one example. The mandate of the people is more evident by the populist leaders that have won in Chile, Bolivia, Venezuela, Brazil, and Nicaragua.
In contrast, the mandate of the American people has never been so completely ignored by its leaders. I think this has been the trigger to Americans' increased awareness.
The problem with 911-is that while it could have been used for a good perpose in the memory of those who died; it instead turned into a partisan witchunt and powergrab by GW/Cheney. Coincidence? I don't think so. Think it was the plan whether 911 happened or not-there would be another reason-since we know plans were drawn up by the VP before it even happened.
The US squandered its' resources after 911 on revenge. The need to get even-the need to show its' power. In the end it's made us weaker on the worldstage.
With the singular focus on the war-NO attention has been made to economics, FDA, consumer safety, Homelan security..
We've seen mass politization of every agency-as GW did not want to have to deal effectively with the problems of the US. so instead of agencies run for the best of the country-we have seen inept people put in positions who are more involved with covering thier asses from bad judgement and corruption-rather than any beneficial policies for the US.
THIS is what Americans will remember as the lessons learned from 911-along with better judgement and intel for war.
-on Iraq.
America is done.
I spent 25 years of my life defending something that doesn't exist any longer yet strangely I'm not bitter at all.
The military taugh me how to live life abroad so I can always relocate elsewhere I suppose with my soon to be worthless retirement check due to the dollar drying up.
I wonder if the roman legions were bitter when rome fell?
Maybe there will be a market for mail order american grooms. We can marry for money and benefits in some european country.
Ever hear of something called the "brain Drain"??? Most of the creative talent that drove innovation after ww2 was imported from a bombed out Europe. You'll know when the end is here for the USA when you can't avoid the truth of another brain drain outbound from the usa.
You might want to examine the concept of conservativism and it's impact on stopping creativity. Sad to say, it's the liberals that question everything and the way it's done that lead to new products and efficiencies. Capitalism is about thwarting competition ... it's about monolopy by any means possible. So you think asians are just robots with no creative instincts ... but, if that's true how did they take the automotive market and the consumer electronics market and now the commercial aircraft industry?
Frankly, it can not be said often enough that the wealth of western society has largely been harvested from the rest of the globe at the point of a gun and not through the efforts of discovery and innovation at home.
American middle and lower classes contribution to the wealth growth here has been it's willingness to lay down it's lives to exploit the resources of the rest of the world. Just how many Inventors like henry ford and bill gates can you roll of the tip of your tongue. DAMN FEW ! America harvested the best and the brightest inventors from europe as part of the bombing to destruction when we can into WW2 at the end to insure their incapability of manufacturing.
The continued trend towards faith based society and conservative withdrawal from reality is unlikely to change as things get worse. That's ok with the elite that's currently profiting from events as they are now because one of the objectives is take us to the level of 3rd world living.
Here is Zbigniew Brzezinski's reflection upon America's path.
In this short vid, of an interview with Bloomberg Financial, Brzezinski states that OBAMA understands America and has the tools necessary to take US into the future. He goes on to add that Hillary represents the Status Quo and that he doesn't understand Condi Rice's foreign policy choices.
It shocked me to hear this from such an unlikely source.
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I totally agree with this statement: "Most people I speak with from other countries about world affairs speak of America's world dominance in the past tense. No kidding! They don't simply predict America is on the path to less relevance. They tend to believe the only country in the world that doesn't recognize America's dominance truly is in the past tense is America itself. Of course that's not quite true since America still holds more sway than any other nation on Earth but we are being seen by the rest of the world as less and less relevant, kind of like a lame-duck leader. Our term in office is up and everyone's already thinking about the next power-to-be and only dealing with us because they have to until its official. It used to be that America was the dog that wagged the tail. That's not so true anymore."
this has been increasingly true since 2000 . . . and the trend is set to continue . . . America is seen as the no 1 terrorist country in the world second only to israel . . .and the chimp and the world's no 1 terrorist . . .
the ever-widening gap between the rich and poor and the destruction of the middle class .. . traditionally the backbone of America are all symptoms of this trend . . . the only thing really sustaining the american economy is war . . . unless America elects a strong Democrat as president -- who is not a war monger but a man of peace with vision and integrity . . . unless this happens I fear this downward trend is set to continue .. . those who are most unaware that America has lost it are the WH, their neo con supporters and most of Congress and a lot of our prez candidates . . . they have it seems opted to live in an alternate universe
Until the average american has to go without food and a job the status quo remains. Americans are fat, lazy and unconcerned about what happens to this country as long as it isnt happening to them...but it will come. People shouldnt be a afraid of their governments, governments should be afraid of its people! It is time for another revolution and to take back what has been taken from us. In a very ironic twist, the very people we will need to overthrow are also the people who freely sell us our guns. Unlike other countries that have no access to guns, americans have more guns per person than the rest of the world combined. When the end comes, theres going to be alot of bloodshed! I dont own a gun but getting one when its needed will not be a problem!
Is America on the Right Path? Do you mean the right as a fascist state? Yes. Do you mean morally? No. Do you mean towards a Democratic Republic? No. Do you mean towards making the changes to bring the fruition of the hope and promise of the American Dream, as invisioned through the eyes and cautious optimistic writings of our Founding Fathers, after having broke free from the oppression and tyranny that they fought and many died for the opportunity to create for us? Definately Not! Next Question..
"It's hard to convince many Americans of this when we've grown up believing we're unrivaled.
This speaks for itself really.
"Reading statistics isn't enough. You have to see it, feel it and experience it to really "get" it."
----
I often get just that feeling when I'm riding Shanghai's modern, efficient, clean, safe subway. Apparently this year, there are *over one hundred* subway stations under construction in Shanghai.
What American city could mount an effort anything like that?
Sometimes I worry that America is a spent force, the vitality that propelled it in earlier times (see for example The Roaring Twenties) has congealed into an exurban indolence narcotized by media mass entertainment.
It really makes me concerned about America's future - and reminds me why I left. Sadly, it came down to wanting to live in a place on the ascent than one in decline.
all the indicators are that America is fast becoming a has been.
can a country that wants to dominate the world and that invades a country for its oil be on the right path. ask Hitler that one.
worst yet the citizens of that country are actually naïve enough to believe the war for profits politicians be on the right path.
visit a forth or fifth grade class at a public school in a large city and your answer will come to you with ease as to America’s future.
There are not ten educators in this country that are able to see we are a teacher and administrator oriented educational system and not student oriented.
We are a results only oriented society and destined to fail and achieve third world status. Life is about process first (kaizen) results second. Find me ten consultants in america that understand what I just stated.
Interesting question. We are certainly on "a path." By all accounts many think it is the wrong path. But nations, in a way, are like supertankers; you can't turn them on dime to a new course.
Voting for politicians of one stripe or another to change paths doesn't seem to be working out too well for us, with regard to our current path as well as to our past paths. Why should one believe that continuing that grand tradition will have a different outcome?
The Establishment, or the ruling elites, or whatever one wishes to call them, I would guess will continue to do just about what they damn well please and to hell with the rest of us, regardless of our voting, letter-writing, demonstrating, and ranting.
One option would be to get used to it.
Well, we don't seem to produce much any more but wheat, weapons systems and mass entertainment. I mean, look at you! No doubt a fine mind and a fine education, but with all due respect your own claim to fame according to your bio is for developing a "technology that helps the music industry predict hit songs." That's not exactly Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, Alfred Sloan, or even Bill Gates material. More stereotypical pop-music hits, guaranteed; it conjures up like the Fiction Department at the Ministry of Truth in "1984," where pornography is churned out for prole-class readers using a book-writing computer.
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