XPost: alt.america, alt.politics.elections, alt.politics.economics   
   XPost: misc.education   
   From: industry3dREMOVE@yaREMOVEhoo.com   
      
   Bob LeChevalier wrote:   
      
   > Rowley  wrote:   
   >   
   >>Random thoughts and comments inline...   
   >   
   >   
   > Most of which I agree with.   
   >   
   >   
   >>>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?   
   >   
   >   
   > ... the pollution, the energy consumption, the Tea Party, the   
   > Wikileaks?   
      
   That's life - usually with the good you get the bad... you might think   
   that they would learn from our mistakes - but they probably won't.   
      
   > which adds to your question and also answers it.  For the world to   
   > have what we've achieved, the world has to be willing and able to   
   > accept the negative consequences of such achievements.   
      
   I think the world/people do accept the negative consequences of such   
   achievements (or at least ignores them) - leastwise till the day that it   
   comes back to bit them on the ass. The day after a major river gets   
   filled with pollution - that is when people start asking "How could/did   
   this happen?!" Which is pretty much the same thing we've done for years.   
      
   >   
   >>Learning math and engineering take time and effort - a lot of our kids   
   >>seem to think that updating their Facebook page and playing video games   
   >>is a better use of their time. :\   
   >   
   >   
   > Which is a natural consequence of having achieved what we have.  Does   
   > the rest of the world want to be able to think that Facebook and video   
   > games is the pinnacle of existence?   
      
   Ask the South Korean kids in the PC bangs..   
      
   > Possibly yes, but that doesn't bode well for the world.  But we aren't   
   > exactly in the position to preach moral superiority on the question.   
      
   It seems from what I've observed (or haven't observed) that we (the   
   average US citizen) aren't really concerned with the problems that the   
   rest of the world might be having.   
      
   Martin   
      
   > lojbab   
   > ---   
   > Bob LeChevalier - artificial linguist; genealogist   
   > lojbab@lojban.org   Lojban language www.lojban.org   
      
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