Getting ourselves out of the recession-depression we are in will require major sacrifices from all segments of society. But from the debates in the Senate, it appears that the Repubs would prefer to solve it on the backs of the middle class and blue collar workers, leaving the financial wizards who created the mess untouched, and bonus richer.
We can't reverse globalization, or undo outsourcing. Manufacturing will always find the lowest cost venue, which is now in the heavily populated Asian region. To attempt to compete against a national policy of "development at any price", as in Asia, we would need to create a permanent underclass of American workers. In our consumption based economy that would be a solution worse than the problem.
Our strengths that made us the 20th century world leader were innovation by well educated individuals, entrepreneurship, a work ethic, high workplace productivity, and the drive to leave the world a better place for our offspring. That was easy when large parts of the world consisted of Third World countries. They were our market, not our competition.
By permitting our educational system to decline, starving it for funds, and treating teachers as useful baby-sitters, we have frittered away our relative advantage. Products and services that were exclusively ours are now available in Asia. To make them here we import engineers and designers from there. Yet Congress is wrangling over a stimulus package from which they eliminated aid funds for education and funds for hard pressed states, whose own deficits make it necessary to reduce support for education at all levels.
How can we, average Joe or Jane, get through the swamp of partisan politics, to inform our Congress that enough is enough with neglect of education?
Sunday, February 8, 2009
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