Category: Politics

There needs to be a national conversation about education and race. Black poverty is still more common than white poverty, and black income is still far below white income. In these yet-to-be-United States, as James Baldwin calls it, a black household’s income is roughly 30 percent below the median while a white household’s income is just above median income. Black children are more than twice as likely and hispanic children are three times as likely to drop out of high school as their white peers. America will never be truly equal until something changes to make education accessible to everyone.

Education is a very reliable determination of wealth potential. The 2012 unemployment rate for people holding a bachelor’s degree was 4.5 percent, and 3.5 percent for master’s degree holders. Someone who holds a master’s degree earns, on average, double what someone with only a high school diploma earns.

It has been clear for a long time education is becoming more necessary. An American with a master’s degree, per the 2012 census, earns more than double the $34,000 median income of a high school graduate. I don’t know what the solution is, but I know the education gap is an issue that affects all of us—particularly as we advance into a further technology-filled world.

What are your thoughts?

I noticed something this morning. My grandfather watches Fox News, and something one of their contributors said stuck out to me this morning.

They said something along the lines of “the liberal media and the liberal academia…” I was in the other room, so I don’t really know what the entire segment was about. But that phrase stuck out to me as peculiar. Media and Academia are the two biggest sources of information transfer in our lives. The best way, overall, according to innumerable studies, sources and academics, to make a better life for yourself and your family is to get a college degree. Study after study prove that college degrees can improve annual income by 200%; the source I’ve pulled that from is the United States Census Bureau.

Now, wait a minute. The liberal academia is a place where Americans can go to improve their own lives, but it will make them liberal? Is that a chance Americans are willing to take? Sacrifice their conservatism to attend college and double their annual income—I’m pretty sure most Americans will say yes. But it makes me wonder, does information lead to liberalism? If academia and media are two of the most concerning liberal strongholds in this country, the strongest conservative strongholds must be the opposite of those, right? So does that mean ignorance and social seclusion are the conservative strongholds?

While I clearly don’t think conservatives are ignorant and secluded, I do think their constant berating of media and academia are misplaced. Do most conservative politicians believe Americans should go to school? Of course. But if they want you to go to school, why are they putting down your institution all the while? It just doesn’t add up.

Here’s my question: if academia and media are the leftest of the liberal, then does that mean information equals liberalism? Does the smarter someone become make them become more liberal too?

I only ask this because I’ve attended college. I have my own opinions, and they’re not liberal or conservative. Quite frankly, one party vows for this kind of regulation while the other wants that kind of regulation. Republicans argue for social regulation—abortion control, marriage sanctity and ultra tight immigration controls; Democrats vie for fiscal regulation—banking reforms, healthcare overhauls and taxation. I’m not saying I agree or disagree with any of the aforementioned, but let’s call a spade a spade. Republicans saying they’re against regulation is like an academic telling people not to attend college. It just doesn’t make sense—it’s not the real world. Regulation is regulation, whether it’s fiscal or social.

Globalization is something we can’t avoid. American television is broadcast around the world; when I was in Peru I watched “NCIS” on the television in my hotel room. My computer can access a website hosted in Mumbai or Islamabad, Beijing or Tokyo, Buenos Aires or Sydney. I can have a video chat—for free—with my best friend who is studying in Hiroshima. CNN International is broadcast in more than 200 countries.

This media globalization comes at what cost? Do we forge new relationships and forget our old ones? Do we merge cultures and lose national identities? It comes down to someone’s age—there are digital natives and digital immigrants. Can you tell the difference? Mark Prensky, a speaker and essayist, calls the students of today the Digital Natives. “Our students today are all ‘native speakers’ of the digital language of computers, video games and the Internet,” he writes in a six-page paper: Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. Prensky wrote that paper 11 years ago in 2001. Try to think back to how primitive the internet was then in comparison to now. Media have changed vastly in the last 11 years; hell, the changes in the last two years are astounding. iPhones? Droids? Not the droids you’re looking for. iMacs, MacBooks, netbooks, laptops, iPads and iPods? (Full disclosure—I’m an Apple junkie.)

The Internet made it possible to take live television reporting to the next level. Skype interviews can connect reporters with sources worldwide, and high-speed internet can allow a news program to hook into sources and reporters across the globe at any time of day.

Here’s the trouble I notice though: news organizations from around the world—Japan, China, Russia, Ethiopia, South Korea, Europe, Vietnam, etc.—all have bureaus or broadcast stations with reporters in Washington D.C. How many American news outlets have reporters regularly stationed in Cairo? Cape Town? Budapest? Mexico City? How many American reporters are stationed regularly in Vancouver or Toronto? Those cities are mere miles from the American border. This boils back down to American elitism and a sentiment that so many Americans feel—what happens in the rest of the world doesn’t really affect me here at home.

Of course it affects you at home! What about Ciudad Juarez and the narcotráfico in Mexico? What about the Queen of England meeting with the former Irish Republican Army leader? Americans seem to have a notion that the only kind of international “news” that affects them is the type that may affect their safety—Iran becoming nuclear, Syrian violence, Mexican drug trafficking or Japanese debris coming ashore on America’s west coast. In an age of globalization like this one, every international story affects everyone. Sure, American politics are important to the rest of the world, but why are Americans not as invested in European politics?

Oh, wait—suddenly the Eurozone may collapse and cause a global financial crisis, let’s start getting involved! While there’s virtually nothing the U.S. government can do to affect the Eurozone financial crisis, it’s something that affects everyone. The European Union traded $636 billion with America last year, and it trades $1.5 trillion with the other 19 of its largest trading partners. With its top 20 trading partners, the E.U. trades over $2.005 trillion each year. That’s $2,358,137,000,000 every year—with only 20 nations. The European Union trades roughly the same dollars per year that the United States does. The U.S. trades $2.61 trillion per year. While $600.5 billion is an enormous number difference, the E.U. is still the only entity in the world that can compare   Imagine how much more is traded when you factor in the other ±176 nations in the world. That dollar amount is just in goods; it does not factor in any diplomatic aid, foreign direct investment or service.

Here’s a kicker—can you guess which single country is America’s largest trade partner? Here’s a hint: it’s not Great Britain, Israel, Germany or Japan. To find America’s largest trade partner you need only look north—Canada. America trades more than $500 billion with Canada on an annual basis.

I’d like to know what percentage of Americans can name five political leaders of countries engaged in an alliance with the U.S. United Kingdom? No, the answer is not Queen Elizabeth II; it’s David Cameron. Did you know he is part of the first coalition government the United Kingdom has seen since Winston Churchill? Do you even know what a coalition government means? That’s where more than one political party works together in a cabinet; David Cameron, current British Prime Minister, is a member of the Conservative Party. His Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, is part of the Liberal Democrat party.

On another political note, Mexico is having presidential elections in just a few days. Watching CNN, Fox News, MSNBC and reading the online news sites, I have seen virtually nothing suggesting the Mexican election has any importance on American life. With all the drug trafficking in Mexico, it’s imperative Americans pay attention to the politics of Mexico. No, Americans cannot affect who is elected, but it’s still of great consequence to this country.

The basic point I’m trying to point out is that America is not the only country that has power in the world. America does not decide what happens globally, much to the dismay of many Americans. It’s time the American mindset of ‘we are the only place where political decisions matter’ ends. India and Pakistan have nuclear weapons pointed at one another, primed and ready for launch. That remains the world’s single greatest threat of nuclear attack—more than Iran or North Korea. Well… let’s be honest, Wile E. Coyote is head of the North Korean nuclear division.

It’s time American media put more emphasis on overseas politics than the current level. It’s time regularly staffed news bureaus exist outside of London, Rome, Paris, Sydney and Mumbai. It’s time Americans accept the inevitable globalization and move past the stubbornness of their elitism. Still, in 2012, only 30% of Americans have a passport. 60% of Canadians have passports, and 75% of Brits have passports. It’s time America joins the ranks of the global world.

I watched the first episode of the new HBO show, The Newsroom, written by Aaron Sorkin. The very first scene—where the news anchor is sitting onstage at a university function—got me thinking.

This post is going to sound cynical, but it needs to be said. In case America isn’t egotistical enough, we’re the only country in the world that calls itself “the greatest country on earth.” Don’t get me wrong, I love this country, but I don’t think we’re the greatest country on the planet any more. I don’t know if I could tell you which country is, but we ain’t it.

When it comes to defense spending, America outspends the next 13 countries combined. America spent $711 billion in 2011, and China—the next country on that list—only spent $143 billion. America spends five times more on defense than the next country. When compared with top 15 countries in defense expenditures, the other 14 all combine to equal the amount America spends, and America is engaged in active alliances with 10 of the top fifteen defense spenders: Great Britain, France, Japan, Germany, Italy, South Korea, Australia, Canada and Turkey. When all combined, America and her allies spend $1.076 trillion on defense. The other countries in the top 15 only spend $345 billion. Only 38% of Americans have confidence in the national government, and 73% of Americans believe there is corruption in national politics. Among NATO countries, the most US-friendly country (the United Kingdom) only has a 67% approval rating of the US Government. Among all of NATO (where each country is represented equally among each other), America enjoys only 40% approval.

When it comes to education, the United States outspends (at least) 119 countries when it comes to percentage of GDP spent on education (according to the CIA World Factbook). 43 nations outspend the US by percentage of their GDP. America ranks 27th in math, 33rd in reading and 22nd in science scores. Take a look at this infographic:

Now, to be fair, America is the world’s third most populated nation, but according to the International Human Development Indicators, America is ranked fourth in the the overall HDI: Education index. This index accounts for enrollment, expected years of schooling, average years of schooling, public expenditure on education and the adult literacy rate. We fall behind New Zealand, Norway, Australia and Ireland. According to Gallup polling, only 62% of Americans are satisfied with the education system. Let’s compare: 72% of New Zealanders, 69% of Australians, 86% of the Irish and 75% of Norwegians are satisfied with their education systems.

Only 79% of Americans have access to high-speed internet. In 25 countries, a higher percent of the population has access to the internet in the home.

Ladies and gentlemen, here’s the kicker. According to Gallup polling data, only 30% of Americans have voiced an opinion to their elected official. Oh, and that “American Dream,” the pick yourself up by your bootstraps thing? Gallup also asks “can people in this country get ahead by working hard?” America, as you might not expect, is not on top of this list. America is not even in the top 50. America isn’t in the top 60, 70 or 80 either. America is 83 in a list of 159 nations when it comes to “getting ahead by working hard.” Of the 27 nations in North, Central and South America, the United State of America is 19th.

So, America, you’re not the greatest country on earth any more.

But I’ll tell you one thing. The American population definitely has the potential. NASA has sent astronauts to the moon with computers far less capable than the majority of cell phones in this country. Other “new” nations have modeled their own national politics after America’s bicameral legislature. American ingenuity led to the invention of the light bulb, the personal computer, the iPhone, the assembly line, the internet and the artificial heart. America definitely has the potential to be the “greatest nation on earth,” it just takes the greatest population on earth to get there.