Posted on 10/30/2005 12:09:01 PM PST by Willie Green
For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.
We grew up believing in an "American dream" that provided work and freedom for all it embraces. And of course, we all knew that America is first in everything. If anyone still believes that, it may be time to take another look at America, the bold marketer, the dashing innovator in the year 2005.
Consider our supposedly cutting-edge technology. When our government is more concerned with biblical prophecy than keeping the American dream alive, you can bet that our edge is going to get dull in a hurry. At the same time, the "other guys" in Europe, China and Japan are looking more and more like the Energizer bunny.
In the past, the U.S. had more engineers than all of Europe combined, and three times as many as all of Asia. Today, in China alone, more than 10 engineers graduate for every one that we graduate; and those kinds of statistics are changing the balance of power throughout the world. This suggests that the market for engineers and technicians is strong.
Anyone interested in seriously plumbing the reasons for our economic decline might want to explore a number of factors; among them, the fall-off in new product introductions. The truth is that while we are becoming the leader in "retailing," the products are not made here but elsewhere. The truth is that many ideas that germinate here are being developed, licensed and marketed overseas by foreign interests who have purchased American technology.
With the spate of mergers, acquisitions and takeovers, many companies we think of as having American roots have changed their loyalties. Many are really based overseas with policies and decision-making coming from abroad.
Inventions, ideas and new products that could make a difference are increasingly finding that the only way they can see the light of day is to get manufactured overseas. Of the remaining domestic companies, few want to incur the risk of taking a product from the concept stage through manufacturing. Nor do they want to invest the capital for long term investments other than backing what is perceived to be a sure winner.
The engineers and scientists behind Maglev were unable to interest domestic companies in developing and marketing it; consequently, they turned to overseas investors. As a result, this country lost the benefit of developing and manufacturing the equipment needed to use it and the profits that could have been derived from marketing.
Does that sound like the kind of America that we once knew? America is no longer about risk-taking or commitment; increasingly it's about big bonuses to CEOs who don't perform, and strategies and tactics that don't incur risk. Shareholders are interested in the here and now and not long-term investments.
Many of the new ideas marketed in the world were developed in national institutions like our colleges and universities as opposed to small corporate labs. Unfortunately, the universities, always seeking new sources of capital, are now making these research institutions available to manufacturers, including foreign-based ones.
Rather than tinker around in order to come up with some great idea to solve the world's ills, these institutions' talents are being used to focus on specific problems, not those of our own home-based manufacturers. The loss to pure research is stunning, but the implications are seldom reported.
Moreover, what the institutions uncover as fruits of their own explorations and discoveries, financed by taxpayer funds, is now available to any company, foreign or domestic, that subscribes to their services.
What's worse is that these institutions receive tax monies from the U.S. government as subsidies to support foreign exploitation of ideas developed here. Crazy when you consider how we are cannibalizing our own economic futures.
Our government does not support the U.S. in cases of theft of American ideas and for the most part, foreign entrepreneurs know that they can steal indiscriminately and get away with it. The U.S. government will not invest one iota of effort in helping small business America to survive.
There is a particular disillusionment with the benefits of science and technology that has spilled over from the extremist right wing orientation of many of our leaders in government. Our failing efforts in stem cell research and other pioneering technologies has caused us to fall behind the scientific research of other countries where there are no such restrictions. This is the cutting edge and whether we like it or not, America is losing out on the research that will define the products of tomorrow.
To exacerbate America's economic losses, over the last 20 years, many of America's economic power houses have sold out to foreign companies, which has resulted in vital technology and know-how moving overseas, along with the resulting profits. What is particularly mind-bending is that this kind of behavior is being encouraged by power granted to the Executive Branch, allowing "special arrangements" and "relationships" to be formed through NAFTA and fast track that open our markets to foreign development while ceding growth jobs in information and technology overseas.
What could our leaders be thinking?
One of the few barometers of performance and long-term economic health has to be the number of patents applied for. Since the break-up of AT&T, America has submitted fewer and fewer applications for patent or patent-pending. This is perceived to be a continuing trend and indicative of the country's economic health and vibrancy. And who really cares?
What more telling indicator do we need than the fact that we no longer have a machine tool industry in the U.S. n that to manufacture products, we would have to import machine tools from abroad.
More than 600,000 engineers graduated from Chinese universities, 350,000 engineers from India and only 70,000 from American universities. The truth is even worse because most of those graduates from American universities are transfer students and made up of mostly Chinese and Indian students who will return home first chance they get.
On general knowledge testing at the world level, American twelfth graders placed 21st in math and science. Of the 120 giant chemical plants being built in the world, only one is in the U.S. n 500 are in China. Our government fails to recognize that our future is tied to science.
These appalling facts were brought to light by a panel convened by the nation's leading scientific advisory group, The National Academies. According to the chairman of the panel, R. Norman Augustine, the retired chairman of Lockheed Martin, "America must act now to protect its strategic and economic security." He then said "America is in serious danger of losing its coveted leadership position in science and technology. And that other nations are coming on fast while we seem to be backsliding."
To remedy the situation, the panel is calling for a massive program to bolster educational grants and scholarships amounting to more than $10 billion. It was also recommended that tax credits for investments in science and technology be continued past the expiration dates and increased to meet the demands of our society.
The conference was convened by Lamar Alexander, Republican of Tennessee and Jeff Bingaman, Democrat of New Mexico, who both praised the findings. A Web site dedicated to the report may be found on www.nationalacademies.org.
... As I was saying ...
America's elite have lost their commitment to their country
A House Divided: Manufacturing In Crisis
Is globalization destroying consumer market?
ping
"The truth is even worse because most of those graduates from American universities are transfer students and made up of mostly Chinese and Indian students who will return home first chance they get..."
We can always hope...
You forgot the barf alert.
The United States turned its back on God; threw prayer out of the schools, welcomed every Godless religion in the world (Buddhism, Islam, Hindusim, etc.); banned spanking of children; is trying to take away private ownership of guns; honored homosexuality; has an absolute fit if someone quotes scripture. So, be careful what you wish for -- you're going to get it.
Uh, they don't always return home, and the HB1 visas, and outsourcing have destroyed the engineering prospects for American kids.
We haven't lost the dream Willie. YOU HAVE.
American society has been, for most of its history, a sink or swim/social darwinistic society. Those that have the initiative and the talent thrive, while those that don't are left behind. This is the way it was through most of the 19th century, the first three decades of the 20th century and for today as well.
The Corporatist General Motors business model of mid-century was merely an exceptional period, when the U.S. had little competition and the bosses needing to buy labor peace. It was also the era of the highest marginal tax rates in history.
As I understand it the US is still the recognized leader in
the pornography industry.
"We haven't lost the dream Willie. YOU HAVE."
I agree...
I could write every day, a very long argument opposing and supporting this column. It was VERY! Journalistic in it's subtext, and in it's facts. Ironicly, both of them are true. The US IS selling out it's internal strength, however the subtext of us becoming weak is exaggerated. The American dream isn't about a job and prosperity, but rather about the OPPORTUNITY for Prosperity. The University system isn't being taken over by foreign nations trying to mimic us, it is being SEEDED to those who AREN't Like us.
I have a LOT of statements to make on this, but my FAVORITE and most HATED statistic is one that is out of date, but I have no doubt is still true. In 1995 I enlisted in the Marine Corps. It is the Mandate of the MC (Marine Corps) to graduate approximate 19,500 Marines each year. In 1995 I think there were 26 thousand people who didn't graduate law school, but 26 thousand people who passed the Bar. THAT, while it is a broken metaphor, is what is happening here.
My BS detector went off four alarms. Not only can't I imagine to what he refers to here, neither can the author, who must be just pandering to leftists by such an inaccurate statement.
when once we built buidling of solid marble and granite today they are built of foam covered for cosmetic purposes with a thin covering of granite or marble.
Where once our cons were silver and gold they are now planchets clad with colored metal
In every way imaginable the great wealth of the US is gone and it has been replaced buy wealth in debt credit cards loans from banks
We live in a virtual house of cards today. They speak of a dot-com bubble, a housing bubble, but we live in a credit and banking bubble and when that blows appart all of our society will be cast into darkness and want such has not been seen since the great depression.
Nafta and its clones has been done to try to keep the good times going -- but how many more markets can we open with free trade? Economic expansion has to top out. It has been based on flooding out these new nafte markets with products that were all sold on credit -- which may or may not ever be paid off. Once these new markets are saturated with US products on credit growth will be based on pupulation growth -- and in most western countries that population growth is negative. So what does that tell you.
Certainly, the answer is not more government-funded "research". I can't think of anything worse than a bunch of lawyers trying to control science, business, or education. Kill the beast, and we will be fine.
America lost its edge on Science and Technology because it turned its back on God? You lost me.
Your "writing on the wall" is a bit garbled, IMHO, MeneMene.
Questionable.
Show me where those "statistics" come from.
And I'll tell you what Mark Twain said about statistics.
A man to whom any ideas at all are quite foreign.
The "dream" was destroyed when the dept of education was created and the "terachers" union was strengthened to destroy what was left of the morals and to further dumb-downamerica's youth.
You may thank jimmy (commie bastard) carter and to make it fair, you can also blame ALL the presidents and politicians since that have done NOTHING to remove carter's stench and the that of the oligarchist judicial tyrants and their attorney minions.
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