Current Newsweek article lists The United States as # 11 in countries worldwide. Really cool website with different categories. Unfortunately, in Health, we're # 23, behind such countries as Slovenia and So Korea.
The one that scares me and the article pointed out is Education. I guess all those BP posters that are concerned about education in our country, know something! We're ranked 26, behind countries like Cuba, Poland and Czech-republic. This can't be good. Rich
Education is the key, we need to cut the pork and spend it all on education - but in the right ways.
When you find yourself trailing Cuba in any statistic, let alone something as vital ad education, it is definitely scary.
And as a reflection from someone who is just exiting the education system (I have both private and public background - public for college), I will say that the largest problem in our education system is the culture of students.
Americans simply do not value education, it is a given right paid for by taxes, and we've come to a point that it is taken for granted.
My grandfather had 7 siblings, their parents had 3 pairs of shoes and chose the most intelligent to get to wear the shoes and goto school. Today each kid has 7 different pairs of shoes in 3 different colors apiece, and couldn't care less about attending class.
Ask any asian who has now joined the american education system and they will narrate the stark differences in the mentality and social influences in school.
I myself took all general classes in high school and choose to skip school and drink beer in lieu of furthering my education. Albeit I turned out okay, turn on MTV and tell me the largest problem in America today isn't the culture of our children. Societal pressures weigh VERY heavy, and it is the "cool" thing to be a screw up for some reason - that is the problem.
My thesis is this - poor education today is a function of many things - parenting, quality of teachers, whole structure of the system etc. But the MAIN reason our education is failing is due to our culture.
As aformentioned in my previous post, I just made my way through the school system and I can confidently say that societal pressures and culture are our biggest problem. Kids don't care to learn, don't understand the importance of education, and are more worried about how cool they look in their new air force one's or polo and what social group they fit into. Understadnably that stuff will go on, but when we have a culture of children that don't care to learn THAT is the #1 problem. this stems from the parents, the teachers, and a wide variety of other factors and will not be easy to fix.
Kids are texting all day, surfing the internet, worried about social pressures, etc. Free education is taken for granted. the current school system is what you make of it, and although there are some children whose parents keep them on the right track but these kids are considered "nerds" because it snot cool to learn. Many of these so called nerds graduate with book knowledge but limited social skills.
until we somehow realize the importance of educaiton at an early age, or all of our parents force us to be the "nerds" and make it "cool to be smart", then we are in trouble.
It really is a representation of the sense of entitlement we feel. Children in developing coutnries value education because it is their ticket to freedom. American children feel entitled to do what they want, when they want, and don;t realize the importance of education until they get smacked in the face with reality and a minimum wage job.
I don't care to validate the statistics because it doesn't matter, I know from personal experience.
Also to Jimmy's point, there has been a recent backlash against those the are highly educated...in many cases, highly educated people are called "elitist," with a very negative connotation.
Couple that with people in authority (like politicians) who essentially accuse Americans of being functionally illiterate by insisting that all messages must be delivered on a third-grade level.
And as Rich pointed out, being smart is associated with words like nerd and geek, which generally have negative connotations.
If being intelligent and well-educated were considered to be an indication of success in this country as opposed to an indication of being elitist or weak, maybe more kids would aspire to it.
Another vote from Rich to JScott.
Would the same thing happen with financial literacy? Would more kids aspire to it if they weren't constantly being told those are the bad people and targets for all that is wrong? I doubt that most school boards would want to try and teach financial literacy and not sure teachers would be the best ones to try.Just wondering. Rich
Good point about financial literacy, I think it should be mandatory curriculum in high school. Perhaps financial literacy would have led to more financial responsibility thus avoiding the crisis we are in. My high school health class actually spent a week or two trying to do this but didn't try to teach anymore than how to balance a checkbook. I am a finance major now and have never balanced a checkbook in my life, and never will - I can go online and instantly see my balance.
Point being, my school made a minimal effort, but at least they tried - I guess.
Also the recent "financial crisis" is only adding to the negative connotation surrounding, well educated, financially literate, high net worth individuals. The high NW individuals (wall street banker) are not the only ones to blame for seeking profits in CC's and HELOC's - it's also our education system and our parents who don't instill financial responsibility so that people know not to spend too much on CC's, etc.
Jimmy, I think the issue goes even deeper than that. You may enjoy reading a great book called "Bowling Alone." It talks about how people have become more and more isolated from each other because of a variety of reasons, including (a) women going to work, which has meant fewer social evenings with friends, (b) people moving to other cities for jobs, which has resulted in breaks in friendships, (c) less church attendance, which has removed some of the social contacts that people used to have regularly.
The net result of all this is that people seem to be seeking material substitutes for the social void in their lives. This is part of the reason for the overspending, compulsive shopping and other imprudent economic activities.
It's a scholarly work and not engagingly written. But it is an important book because it analyzes the underlying causes for a lot of the things that I see posted on BP, such as our declining morals, excessive consumerism, poor parenting, etc.
The book is fairly exhaustively researched and filled with data and that can make it boring for people who don't like statistics and numbers.