<p>The US isn't in trouble any time soon. Really. Let's use the UK and France as examples. One hundred years ago these two countries were the big cheeses. There's the old saying that the sun never set on the British Empire. French was the international language of diplomacy. Now look at the UK and France. Both have been absorbed into the EU and are much overshadowed by the US.</p>
<p>But would you say either is a bad place to live? Of course not. Those countries have ridden the technology wave made possible by the US, and their standards of living are just as good as we have in the US. </p>
<p>So what's to worry if the US is no longer the world's superpower? Do you think that the US will become some third-world country just because China has more engineers? I think not.</p>
<p>And to anyone who says Americans are lazy, just take a good look at Latin America and Europe. In France, virtually everyone takes a month of paid vacation. And students in Latin America are nowhere near their North American counterparts in education. In my Spanish class at school, we translate letters from students in Mexico to give to students here. Their 12-year olds have terrible grammar and spelling, even in their own native language. They are also challenged by length. Were we not writing full-length papers when we were 12 years old?</p>
<p>Yea, life isn't about being the smartest person around so I don't care.
Those guys probably focus 95 percent of their life and time into education, have fun because I want to enjoy my life.
But the US does need a education reform...</p>
<p>In case you didn't read my post I'm Indian. I have a huge family there. And I see how most of my cousins go into Engineering or Information Technology. They work like $%@$ for it, so I'm proud of them. </p>
<p>And how am I racist? I'm not hating them. I'm just making generalizations and these were also made in the video. For example now like 70% of Indians are in the IT field. I see many Indians in computers and software stuff. Why? Because these are good paying jobs. Is that bad? No.</p>
<p>People have you been to India? A lot of them are into IT and Engineering. Why these two? Because they pay well. These are the only points I'm trying to make.</p>
<p>Psh, I wish I had their motivation! Well, more percisely, their patience and self-control. Imagine how much you could get done with a work ethic like that. <em>dreamy sigh</em></p>
<p>Sciencenerd, I'm not saying that you are a racist but rather that you saying that is almost agreeing with those assumptions. I know that many Indian and Chinese students don't memorize, rather learn. And I'm Indian, too. For every one brilliant kid, you will find 10 who don't care...just like here in America. Personally, I think this video is stupid because it doesn't talk about the dark side: what about the chinese kids in textile factories? What about the Indian kids stuck on a farm, drinking pesticides to escape their horrible reality? The truth is, most of these kids who are educated has opportunity and motivation. U.S.= 1 mill graduates (college) a year. China + Indian= 3 mill graduates each a year...China and India's population is triple the U.S. population...sounds about right, no?</p>
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just take a good look at Latin America and Europe. In France, virtually everyone takes a month of paid vacation. And students in Latin America are nowhere near their North American counterparts in education. In my Spanish class at school, we translate letters from students in Mexico to give to students here. Their 12-year olds have terrible grammar and spelling, even in their own native language. They are also challenged by length. Were we not writing full-length papers when we were 12 years old?
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<p>Maybe because they are poor as hell and education isn't exactly at the top of the priority list?</p>
<p>aisgzdavinci, that's because India and China were strong nations prior to imperialism, enjoyed more freedom than other nations during imperialism, and had the resources to rebuild after imperialism. Yes, they have come a long way (India is considered a world power barely 70 years after independence). They still have to catch up the whole country (both India and China) but it makes me proud to be Indian and American.</p>
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Maybe because they are poor as hell and education isn't exactly at the top of the priority list?
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<p>Not ALL of Mexico is poor. A lot of it, yeah, but if the 'better parts' have students that at 12 have crappy grammar and spelling, that's saying something.</p>
<p>When I discussed how democracy was the key to prosperity I assumed that with democracy went free market capitalism. I however failed to take into account the quasi socialist democracy's such as France and Sweden. It has been proven time and again that in any nation that has a democracy with free market capitalism the standard of living for the majority of people increases, aswell as gross domestic production. Living conditions can only improve so much for the majority of people in a countries like Vietnam and China where the goverment controls everything. Indonesia and Peru are two great examples of democratic,free market capitalism overcoming the obstacles to create better lives for there citizens.</p>
<p>-Yes I want to study exonomics and work in international finnance and private equity.</p>
<p>The current situation in Mexico isn't a good one at all. The current president of Mexico is finally doing something that has been needed to be done for a long time: waging war on the major drug cartels and crime within the country. Education isn't the priority right now, and rightfully so. </p>
<p>And we should keep in mind we're comparing Mexico, a third world country (I believe... even if not, it's definitely leagues away from the US), to the United States, a superpower. Not to mention all of Latin America as well. None of them are anywhere near as developed as the United States; some countries are still dominated by indigenous peoples such as the Maya in Guatemala. It's a completely different world there; their values are not the same as ours, and we shouldn't pretend education is a universal value.</p>
<p>Mexico's idea of economic development is sending people over the border into the U.S.. Somthing like 17% of Mexico's GDP comes from illegals in the U.S. thats just plain pathetic.</p>
<p>But modernization is a universal phenomenon. I'm not laughing at them because they can't read or write but the truth is they are getting left behind severly in this race towards an increasingly technological age. Can you survive in a modern world without basic algebra, history, reading, and writing? With difficulty.</p>