b8159ffb   
   XPost: alt.america, alt.politics.elections, alt.politics.economics   
   XPost: misc.education   
   From: industry3dREMOVE@yaREMOVEhoo.com   
      
   Random thoughts and comments inline...   
      
   Martin   
      
   Abel wrote:   
   > In 1957, the Soviet Union, our Superpower rival, launched the Sputnik   
   > program, prompting our country to put a new emphasis on science and   
   > math.   
      
   I don't think it was as much a "new" as "more".   
      
   > The Sputnik launch consisted of a series of robotic spacecraft   
   > missions launched by the Soviet Union, and it demonstrated the   
   > viability of using artificial satellites to explore the upper   
   > atmosphere.  The Russian word "sputnik" literally means "satellite",   
   > and the satellite's R-7 launch vehicle was designed initially to carry   
   > nuclear warheads.   
   >   
   > The surprise launch of Sputnik 1 shocked America, and our government   
   > responded by launching these satellites: Explorer 1, Project SCORE,   
   > and Courier 1B.   
      
   My understanding is that we (the US) were working on putting something   
   up, but the Russians surprised us by doing it first.   
      
   > The Sputnik crisis also led to the creation of DARPA,   
   > and NASA, and an increase in U.S. government spending on scientific   
   > research and education.   
      
   Given the cold war mentality of the day that was to be expected.   
      
   > DARPA stands for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which   
   > is responsible for the development of new technologies that can be   
   > used our military.  It is as a DIRECT result of our government's   
   > investment in DARPA which has led to the creation of many new   
   > technologies that have had a MAJOR effect on the world, such as the   
   > internet.  So for all those anti-government conservatives types who   
   > keep harping about how our government can not do anything right, well   
   > our government did THIS right.  Didn't they?   
      
   I think some people see the government and the military as two separate   
   things... Plus, IMO most people thought the space race was exciting and   
   it gave us neat new things - like Tang and pens that wrote upside down..   
      
   > DARPA was established during 1958 (originally named ARPA) in response   
   > to the Soviet launching of Sputnik during 1957, with the mission of   
   > keeping U.S. military technology more sophisticated than our   
   > competitors.  DARPA's mission is to prevent technological surprises   
   > like the launch of Sputnik, which signaled that the Soviets had beaten   
   > the U.S. into space.  The lesson of history here is that we as a   
   > nation are capable of achieving what ever we want to achieve, once we   
   > set our mind to it.   
      
   My guess is that while it sped things up, that most of the things that   
   came about because of DARPA would have developed over time on their own.   
   But it is true that historically that there are a lot of technology   
   advances made during times of war.   
      
   > Fast forward from the "Space Age" of a half century ago, to the   
   > "Partisan Age" of today, where we are now facing another Sputnik   
   > moment, vis a vis the rest of the world, as we increasingly fall   
   > behind everyone else when it comes to the sciences and to technology.   
      
   Is there still a race being run?   
      
   > And we are falling behind the rest of the world BECAUSE of the   
   > Republicans, THEY are the ones who have been leading the charge in   
   > making drastic cuts to educational funding, just so that their greedy   
   > and corrupt friends on Wall Street, you know, the richest 1%, can get   
   > those hefty tax cuts.  THIS is the REAL reason why we have been   
   > falling behind the rest of the world.   
      
   I don't really see the blame being any one political party. IMO, the   
   blame is we're (USA) is just fat and lazy.   
      
   But the good news is the rest of the world is rushing to be what we are.   
      
   > Despite much protestations to the contrary, our tax rates are actually   
   > lower than it is in most of the rest of the advanced industrialized   
   > democracies of the world, countries such as Germany, Japan and   
   > Britain, to name just a few countries, whose governments spend a lot   
   > more on education than we do, and as a result, they have better   
   > education results than we do.   
      
   An old adage comes to mind - the one about leading a horse to water..   
   Right now the average person in the US has access to more information   
   than any human being that has ever lived previously. More money isn't   
   going to make someone have more of a desire to make use of all that   
   information. However, this current dip in the economy might.   
      
   > The ONLY way that our country will ever be able to regain the world's   
   > economic edge is if we invest more in education (and innovation),   
   > there's no other way about it.   
      
   And how exactly is that going to work? How does having a more educated   
   population going to make the economy better? Unless there are jobs for   
   those people, they are still going to be unemployed.   
      
   Go back and take a look at the history of the US (use the education that   
   you have or look it up on Wikipedia). The growth of our economy has   
   always been around some "new" technology. Steam power, electric power,   
   automobile, flight, refrigeration, telephone, radio, television, to name   
   a few - and take a look at the more recent times (80's & 90's) personal   
   computers, networks, and the internet. If it hadn't been for the   
   computer industry - I doubt that the 80's/90's would have been as good   
   as they were. The problem today is that everybody has a computer, has   
   the internet - and all that stuff is now pretty much here and done. What   
   we need is something new. Something that nobody has done to death. If   
   and when that new thing shows up, then the economic engine will kick in   
   again. The problem is - you can't just snap your fingers and make   
   something like that appear. Take all those things that came before   
   (Steam power, electric power, automobile, flight, refrigeration,   
   telephone, radio, television) and look at the people who came up with   
   them. Some were pretty educated and some were not as much. IMO, saying   
   that education is the key to fixing the problem with the economy is like   
   the old saying of putting the cart before the horse.   
      
   I saw a bit of trivia recently, something that said that there are more   
   scientists living today than all the scientists who have ever lived   
   previously - total. You would think that one of them should be having a   
   eureka moment anytime now.   
      
   > The competition we faced a half century ago was between America and   
   > our Superpower rival (the Soviet Union), but the competition that we   
   > face today is between America and all the rest of the world (our   
   > economic competitors).   
      
   And why shouldn't they want what we have - the cars, the jobs, the   
   paychecks?   
      
   > Let's compare our standing in the world, from the Sputnik era of the   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)