Aspiring Toward Average
Welcome to the USA, the country that talks out of both sides of its mouth. On one side we herald the creative entrepreneurs who have made our country stand out. Think Steve Jobs, Henry Ford, Ben Franklin or Ray Kroc just to name a few off the top of my head. It is okay, according to their admirers, if they were rich and successful -- Just look at their gifts to our culture. Their stories serve to inspire us to be innovative and attempt new feats.
On the other side of the USA mouth we find the politicians who preach disdain for the rich or accomplished. (Don't forget the salaries and lifetime pensions of our elected officials as you read this.) They look down their nose at any appearance of anything that could possibly stand out - whether by achievement or by money. It has to "be fair" for everyone, whatever that means. It sure gets votes. But, do the voters pause to think about the homes and square footage of the politician speaking this "every man" blarney?
Hence we find the current condition of a once great country with former mega bragging rights now just settling for average...
The mantra that equalizes everyone regardless of effort or ambition now rules. The rich are undeserving and should spread their wealth to the poor who are deserving of being cared for. There should be no extremes, we are told. While I do believe that no one in our country should go to bed hungry without a roof over their head, and think that if all the celebrities who tout their concern for the least of these would instead donate their party money to food shelves and shelters a very big feed could happen, I do not think that teaching people to depend upon the government promotes initiative.
(That run-on sentence was intentional.)
Current statistics reveal 48.5% of the country depends upon some form of government aid for their daily living. Using my math skills, when I round up just a tidge I see that is nearly half of our residents. Is this what we want - for people to think the government is the great provider? What about teaching the value of good, hard work and self-value? Did you know that the welfare hourly wage equivalent in New York City is $14.75? Why would someone want to go get a job at Target for $7 when they can have twice that and not have to wear a name tag? A system that was designed as temporary assistance is now considered a way of life.
Pair the number of people depending on the government with the fact that only 69% of kids graduate high school. The US is 17th on a list of countries ranked by rate of high school graduation. Did you read that - 17th? In case you are wondering like I did who the top 5 were, here they are - all graduate between 91% and 95% of their high school students: Finland, South Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and I'll even throw in the United Kingdom as a bonus.
The United States is the 7th richest country in the world. Qatar, Luxembourg, Singapore, Norway, Brunei and UAE all have us beat. The only number one status we hold is the size of our military. But look at who follows behind us (in order): Russia, China, India, UK, France, Germany, South Korea, Italy and Brazil.
I wondered if there was a correlation between poverty levels and education so I researched the five poorest countries in the world. As it turns out the US makes that cut too, because of the percentage of people living on half (or less) of a median household income. There is such a vast range in incomes that we can be the 5th poorest and the 7th richest at the same time. (The other poorest countries are Turkey, Chile, Israel and Mexico.)
If we want to impact a country, we start with the kids. Terrorists have this all figured out. Hitler had it figured out. We need to step up and focus on stronger educational standards without dragging in federal oversight to the degree we have now. We need to reframe the manner in which children are educated and place a value on achievement, not merely participation. We need to applaud those who do well, not demean them or dissuade them. Of course there should be opportunities for every child to learn at their own rate. (I am a big fan of mastery.) But in no way should we force every child to learn in one format and average them out. I don't want the doctor who got a "C" would you? In some cases abilities are life and death to others.
Let's retool and take back the country where everyone is valued, but everyone isn't average. Look what genius Bill Gates has done. I sure would hate to lose future geniuses because everyone must be average. We need all the innovation we can get in this rapidly evolving world, and people like Gates are not only brilliant and rich, they invest back. There is room for all types of brains. Let's start by getting 92% of American kids graduating from high school. On the grading curve, our current rate of 69% is a D+.
On the other side of the USA mouth we find the politicians who preach disdain for the rich or accomplished. (Don't forget the salaries and lifetime pensions of our elected officials as you read this.) They look down their nose at any appearance of anything that could possibly stand out - whether by achievement or by money. It has to "be fair" for everyone, whatever that means. It sure gets votes. But, do the voters pause to think about the homes and square footage of the politician speaking this "every man" blarney?
Hence we find the current condition of a once great country with former mega bragging rights now just settling for average...
The mantra that equalizes everyone regardless of effort or ambition now rules. The rich are undeserving and should spread their wealth to the poor who are deserving of being cared for. There should be no extremes, we are told. While I do believe that no one in our country should go to bed hungry without a roof over their head, and think that if all the celebrities who tout their concern for the least of these would instead donate their party money to food shelves and shelters a very big feed could happen, I do not think that teaching people to depend upon the government promotes initiative.
(That run-on sentence was intentional.)
Current statistics reveal 48.5% of the country depends upon some form of government aid for their daily living. Using my math skills, when I round up just a tidge I see that is nearly half of our residents. Is this what we want - for people to think the government is the great provider? What about teaching the value of good, hard work and self-value? Did you know that the welfare hourly wage equivalent in New York City is $14.75? Why would someone want to go get a job at Target for $7 when they can have twice that and not have to wear a name tag? A system that was designed as temporary assistance is now considered a way of life.
Pair the number of people depending on the government with the fact that only 69% of kids graduate high school. The US is 17th on a list of countries ranked by rate of high school graduation. Did you read that - 17th? In case you are wondering like I did who the top 5 were, here they are - all graduate between 91% and 95% of their high school students: Finland, South Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and I'll even throw in the United Kingdom as a bonus.
The United States is the 7th richest country in the world. Qatar, Luxembourg, Singapore, Norway, Brunei and UAE all have us beat. The only number one status we hold is the size of our military. But look at who follows behind us (in order): Russia, China, India, UK, France, Germany, South Korea, Italy and Brazil.
I wondered if there was a correlation between poverty levels and education so I researched the five poorest countries in the world. As it turns out the US makes that cut too, because of the percentage of people living on half (or less) of a median household income. There is such a vast range in incomes that we can be the 5th poorest and the 7th richest at the same time. (The other poorest countries are Turkey, Chile, Israel and Mexico.)
If we want to impact a country, we start with the kids. Terrorists have this all figured out. Hitler had it figured out. We need to step up and focus on stronger educational standards without dragging in federal oversight to the degree we have now. We need to reframe the manner in which children are educated and place a value on achievement, not merely participation. We need to applaud those who do well, not demean them or dissuade them. Of course there should be opportunities for every child to learn at their own rate. (I am a big fan of mastery.) But in no way should we force every child to learn in one format and average them out. I don't want the doctor who got a "C" would you? In some cases abilities are life and death to others.
Let's retool and take back the country where everyone is valued, but everyone isn't average. Look what genius Bill Gates has done. I sure would hate to lose future geniuses because everyone must be average. We need all the innovation we can get in this rapidly evolving world, and people like Gates are not only brilliant and rich, they invest back. There is room for all types of brains. Let's start by getting 92% of American kids graduating from high school. On the grading curve, our current rate of 69% is a D+.
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