[excon]

Hello:

America is 7th in literacy, 27th in math, 22nd in science, 49th in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, 3rd in median household income, and number 4 in exports.

We are exceptional at only 3 things: the rate of incarceration per capita, the amount of people who believe in angels, and defense spending, where we outspend the next 26 biggest countries combined.

We used to lead the world in those things.. The only way we can do it again is to STOP pretending we still do.

excon

PS> (edited) Ok, I made up the one about the angels...

[ma0641]

And it is for these specific reasons that people from China, Japan, India and Korea COME HERE TO STUDY AND LIVE!

[speechlesstx]

So people aren't still busting their humps to get here?

[excon]

And it is for these specific reasons that people from China, Japan, India and Korea COME HERE TO STUDY AND LIVE!!

Hello m:

Well, as long as people are still coming, those numbers are OK, huh?

That doesn't sound so exceptional.

excon

[paraclete]

Nice to know you are on a voyage of discovery ex and you are right speech some are and some aren't,

[tomder55]

Does it surprise me ? Almost 50 years of hard left central planning and indoctrination . 178th in infant mortality is that before or after abortion is factored in ? Probably not which makes the infant mortality rate much worse.

A little perspective. At one time the American economy was the only game in town . A large part of that was because the world was digging out Post WWII . It was inevidible that the rest of the world would catch up .So it wasn't that our economy was in decline . It was just unrealistic to think the economy would dominate as it had in the past.
I think many of those same factors are at play with some of the other stats raised here. Part of it is decline . But a lot has to do with the world catching up .

[cdad]

Hello:

America is 7th in literacy, 27th in math, 22nd in science, 49th in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, 3rd in median household income, and number 4 in exports.

We are exceptional at only 3 things: the rate of incarceration per capita, the amount of people who believe in angels, and defense spending, where we outspend the next 26 biggest countries combined.

We used to lead the world in those things.. The only way we can do it again is to STOP pretending we still do.

excon

PS> (edited) Ok, I made up the one about the angels...

Part of the reason for the decline in education is we have taken a path away from excellence. Shools have changed into baby sitting institutions rather then education and preparation schools. Even now many colleges and university's have to teach high school level classes.

Its time to remove the namby pamby attitudes and go back to those that cause children to exceed our expectations rather then setting the bar to the lowest value.

Some children are going to fail, some will rise above others. Its not a bad thing its part of nature. Another thing is lets stop pushing drugs on kids so quickly. Low expectations is not the answer.

[NeedKarma]

Almost 50 years of hard left central planning and indoctrination .

Is the right really that impotent that they can't make any inroads into education or government?

[tomder55]

Is the right really that impotent that they can't make any inroads into education or government?

Slowly ,but there is great resistance . Meanwhile the more enterprising ones open learning centers and do tutoring to teach kids the things they are supposed to learn in school.

[cdad]

Is the right really that impotent that they can't make any inroads into education or government?

This is where you get under the unbrella of constant compromise. The center gets moved to one side and the situation as a whole becomes unstable.

[NeedKarma]

This is where you get under the unbrella of constant compromise.

yes, I've notice the Repubs 'constant comprise' this electoral season LOL.

[tomder55]

yes, I've notice the Repubs 'constant comprise' this electoral season LOL.

Michelle Rhee was the chancellor of the Washington DC district from 2007 to 2010. During her tenure she was instituting a variety of reforms based on accountability and results . In doing so she stept on the toes of the entrenched .
She shut down 23 failing schools, fired 36 principals, 241 teachers and cut 121 unnecessary office jobs. She initiated new programs ;and renegotiated the teacher contracts. She supported a voucher system to aid poor parents in giving their children a choice in education. She wrote in an editiorial that vouchers give " poor families access to publicly funded scholarships to attend private schools,"..."All children deserve the chance to get a great education; no family should be forced to send kids to a school they know is failing."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...896954626.html

Well that lasted until the 2010 elections in DC .IT became a referendum on her reforms .The incumbent lost ;and Rhee resigned before she got fired. DC sqaundered a golden opportunity for real change in favor of the failed status quo.

So no ,it is not conservatives that resist change . The established left is the entrenched group that has managed this failure.

[Fr_Chuck]

I was on Skype last night ( yes I am moving into this century) But I was talking with two college teachers from China, They were telling me how it is America that is far behind in civil rights, and equality for the people. They were telling me how much less the taxes are in China for the people, that race is not a issue, And how women now have better rights though divorce and the such.

Often how we preceive our world is based on where we are at.

[tomder55]

that race is not a issue

Tell that to the Uighur ,Tibetan ,or anyone else that isn't ethnic Han.

how women now have better rights though divorce and the such.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/07/wo...pagewanted=all

[speechlesstx]

I was on Skype last night ( yes I am moving into this century) But I was talking with two college teachers from China, They were telling me how it is America that is far behind in civil rights

Let's see, China has a two child policy, or is it a one child policy? Or is it a one child policy for ethnic Chinese but they can have two if they pay a fine or face forced abortion? And churches? Got to be official churches, no sharing your faith with others, no house churches? Their civil rights are so confusing.

[speechlesstx]

Is the right really that impotent that they can't make any inroads into education or government?

I guess you haven't paid any attention to the all out leftist assault the past couple of decades on charter schools, school voucher programs, home schools - anything that might take students out of or siphon money from failing public schools where they can keep them under their spell and support incompetent, entrenched union teachers.

[excon]

I guess you haven't paid any attention to the all out leftist assault the past couple of decades on charter schools,

Hello again, Steve:

This post, and the ideology behind it, are the REASON why the numbers are what they are... It further represents the CURRENT state of our politics... "Our way or the highway". Nothing gets done, and our decline continues...

excon

[tomder55]

The inertia is in the status quo. There are no new ideas coming from the left on education. It is throw more money into old mortar and brick... and make sure the NEA gets their cut.

[speechlesstx]

Hello again, Steve:

This post, and the ideology behind it, are the REASON why the numbers are what they are... It further represents the CURRENT state of our politics... "Our way or the highway". Nothing gets done, and our decline continues...

excon

I have never said "our way or the highway." The left and the NEA (one in the same) just whine and say "we need more teachers," "we need more money," but that experiment has failed which is the reason for this this post. You can't blame those numbers on the right.

Back to basics, dude. Teach them and have standards as opposed to coddling the little farts to keep from damaging their little psyches and doing stupid stuff like sing songs to Obama.

[talaniman]

Guess we left behind a lot of kids behind when we had all those years of not leaving them behind. What doesn't work was compassionate conservatism. Now you guys want a severe conservative. Right wing rhetoric is loud, but produces nothing but a mess that may take more than 4 years to clean up.

If the conservatives stop getting in the way as they always do. I mean,ain't things slow enough for you to keep up yet?? You have to do more than holler and blame. Eventually you will have to put money where your mouth is better than you did in the first part of the century.

What you forgot about that debacle? No you haven't, you just choose to blame the janitors, and hide the mops.