The American Dream is a constantly evolving vision of equality, fairness, life, liberty, pursuit of happiness and family. In our 400-year history we have had a wide variety of “trends” and “periods,” whether economic, social, cultural or religious. Like it or not, we are in one of those “periods,” but this time the trends are butting heads like so many rutting bulls. Aside from our political differences, which really are driven by economics, America is gripped in the change from a manufacturing economy to a service economy that ultimately will reduce us to poverty. In general, our children can no longer compete intellectually with European and Asian children. Our kids can no longer build and produce the technical marvels that were once our exclusive domain. Our kids can’t do it because the majority can neither read nor write. They can’t because, even with a limited supply of exceptional kids who can still work miracles, we have passed laws making it impossible to build efficient plants to reduce the pollution we passed the laws to prevent. The litany of our troubles is too long to itemize. But we can get through it if we coalesce once again as THE American people. Neither liberals nor conservatives are demons – their goals are actually similar although the solutions are different. Our forbears have always solved our problems through logical, pragmatic compromise. In order to recapture the essence of Americana, we must understand and practice this again. There are too many, particularly in media, university and political circles, who consider themselves the “elite” and all those other Americans as “stupid” when they don’t bow low to their elitist views, far left or far right. For the sake of America and Americans, this has to end. And, with that final appeal for moderation, I wander back into the mist and midst of D&D lurkers anonymous. Good luck, and be kind to each other. We are all we have.
I disagree entirely with the assertion that a service economy is destined to fail. I've seen nothing to suggest that a majority of school children in this country are illiterate. I disagree entirely that we can no longer compete intellectually with the rest of the world. The United States is still quite competitive in the world market..the world economy. I see little to suggest that will drastically change. But I agree with the be kind to each other part.
The Thumbs Manifesto? Seriously, good points--I wish I knew how we can cut through the polarization of this election and the last 4 years. Perhaps, our president will spend his "political capital" wisely. Regardless, the Blue and Red state devide is not going to narrow anytime soon.
I agree with max here... ...the ol' we're doomed to fail mantra has been around forever..yet..somehow, the most ingenuity and creativity seems to come from our side of the pond. Remeber Japan? Back in the Eighties, they were soooo much smarter....better work ethic....better quality...better management systems....and all we could do was pump out pop bands with drum machines and hair spray. We were doomed. Bummer about the Nikkei and bank failures. And that whole high techie thing worked out ok. The American Dream will be just fine.
How 'bout restoring Hakeem The Dream instead? He could teach Yao how to be more aggressive in the paint! Seriously, all this sounds good in theory. The ironic thing is that both sides think that their side is blameless and it's the other side that needs to compromise. Because of that, I don't see it happening anytime soon.
I wasn't going to reply to anyone, but your points are too salient to ignore. First, I do not mean to sound negative because I have great faith and hope in this country and its past resilience in conquering challenges. I've seen nothing to suggest that a majority of school children in this country are illiterate. I disagree entirely that we can no longer compete intellectually with the rest of the world. I have been working with high school graduates, some with honors, who can scarcely read or comprehend what they read. Business owners I know shake their heads over the same problem. Microsoft, for example, gives its own test to college graduates to ensure they know what they need to know. Until the majority (not just the exceptions) can input information effectively into their respective mindsets, they cannot grow intellectually -- sort of like trying to explain the color blue to a person who has always been blind. I disagree entirely with the assertion that a service economy is destined to fail. The United States is still quite competitive in the world market..the world economy. I see little to suggest that will drastically change. Service economies do not produce durable goods. For example, with all due respect, attorneys do not make anything except money. In medicine -- the fastest growing sector in the economy -- doctors and nurses produce nothing but they save lives. No one could possibly say that legal and medical professionals do not contribute to society -- but they do not make durable goods. My point is that service economies consume but do not produce anything. We can turn all this around but only if we come together again as a unified nation. The consequences of our shortcomings will be gradual -- the whimper rather than a bang scenario. We have a reputation for rising to challenges. I believe we can do it, but, for the millionth time, only if we do it together.
Sadly, I agree with your take on the state of our educational system. In Texas, it is currently geared towards "testing," and over and over again I've heard teachers complain about the amount of time they have to spend preparing their students for the tests, when they could have been teaching them a host of other things. Yes, there are exceptional students. However, if one spends some time with high school seniors, or recent college graduates, for that matter, it's amazing what so many of them don't know. The typical knowledge of geography and history, for example, is appalling. As for turning things around, unless moderates aggressively take back control of both the Republican Party, and the Democratic Party, we will continue a spiral down into radicalism, intolerance, and, ultimately, become a shadow of the Great Power we currently are. Every Great Power in history has failed, for one reason or another, and every one thought they would last "forever." If we want to put off our own failure, and make our inevitable decline a "soft" one, we need to get out of the situation in which we find ourselves. The world is looking at the actions of the United States today, largely, with a mixture of fear and dismay, along with more than a little anger. And what I typically hear is, "who cares??" We should care, because the world of the future won't always be our oyster, and the memories of those outside of this country tend to be longer than those who live here. PS- thumbs, you can do more sticking around, rather than going into full "lurk" mode. I hope you "drop in" from time to time. I hope basso does as well. He's another who has said he would "depart" after the election. Just my opinion, of course. Keep D&D Civil!!
