Ch 8: The Quiet Crisis

“Wealth doesn’t make it past three generations” – Chinese Proverb

As we see on the news, America is definitely drowning in debt. We want things now, right when we want them. Many people just buy for immediate gratification, but then later are faced with the headache involved in the great sea of debt. Many countries do look at us and wonder why we are so wasteful with not only our finances, but our resources.

Basically this chapter is about Friedman calling the current American generation lazy, which I think, as a whole many are. While some people need to get off their lazy butts and be more ambitious, overall I do not think it is always the fault of individuals being lazy. I think the way our system is set up in America that propels people to settle for mediocrity.

The media has a big part to play in this in my opinion. They glamorize things that are not that amazing, and set up unrealistic ideas in people’s minds, especially our youth. They do not have very many shows of substance, glamorizing drama, people with no ambition (or ambition of up to the point of hooking up and having the IQ of a typical “blonde”; not that many blondes are like that), and wealth that most of us will never be able to achieve. (Ok, I am not trying to sound like a 70-year old grandma, but common now, some of these shows are so dumb.) Yes I admit I do watch some shows like “the Hills” and E! (which is kind of dumb as well,) but my point is that the media controls our perceptions of things and that they should have a responsibility to glamorize not only dumb things, but maybe things that can be beneficial to people’s futures. This is not to say that when I watch TV I want to be watching some PBS special or anything, but maybe they could put on more shows like the Apprentice, or things that motivate people to seek better opportunities, and that getting yourself ahead in life is another aspect of glamour. Maybe do some “reality show” about people in India fighting for our jobs and how people in America are finding new ways for themselves to stay ahead. (just an example, but you get the point.)

Friedman points out that we should be considered about gaps in our education, infrastructure, and ambitions. He claims that less scientists are graduating from the U.S. than before, and that foreign counties are exceeding us in higher education. He also mentions the education gap at the top. A Romanian kid was used as an example in saying what we are learning in 7th grade, Europeans are learning three grades before us. This is pretty sad, and our education system is not that strong. However, we need better teachers in order to accomplish this. It is sad because the “better teachers” go to the better schools that are in more desirable locations. The impoverished schools are then left at a disadvantage, and more prone to remaining poor. Something needs to be done here, but I don’t seem to have a good answer in how to get the better teachers as the “worse” schools.