And I for one am truly happy about that, honestly. We need good workers in the world if we’re gonna compete on a global scale.
Sure. But unfortunately we are in frank decline (I mean, the USA). Other smarter nations are taking over (like China for the sheer economy, tiny Singapore for the Sciences - they are small but they have the right priorities). In the USA these days, there are too many "Millennials" who feel entitled and keep blaming others for their own failures. And yes, the "Boomers" raised them with the "participation trophy" concept so my generation is partially to blame. Not me, though. My kids were raised right, which is (partially) why they are so successful.
Let me tell you an interesting story.
My son was in this Upper West Side soccer league in Manhattan. It was deemed "non-competitive." I didn't like the concept but it was the only league around; he loved to play and was really talented as a sweeper, so I enrolled him.
Well, his team was one of the top two. Both top teams destroyed the opposition on their side of the bracket, and won all games by large scores.
So they met in the final. Both undefeated; both very good teams.
The idiotic, politically correct coach, at halftime (my son's team was leading 1-0 in first half, a goal scored by his teammate Peter), said to the kids, "We have this rule that kids rotate as goalies. Peter hasn't played goalie yet this season, so he'll play in second half as the goalie."
All kids screamed in agony, and said, "Coach, don't do this. Peter sucks as goalie. He is our best striker. You take him out of the offense and stick him into the goalie position, they'll score on us, and we won't have Peter to score on them to even it out. We need to win this game. These are our rivals, the other great team, we need to beat them and win the tournament. Just let us go out there, play our best, in the positions we are best skilled at, and let us win. We want this. We want to win."
The coach said, "No, no, no. Winning is not important. It's playing the game that is important."
My son said, at this point: "Coach,
that's what people say to losers. We are not losers. We are winners. Let us win."
Well, the coach wouldn't budge. He got Peter as the goalie for the second half.
Result, my son team's lost the game, 2-1. The other team scored two goals on a hapless goalie Peter, and he wasn't there to help the offense.
My son was furious.
He said, "what kind of moron thinks that it's just OK to screw us over like this, after all the hard work we put together in the entire season"??
Sure, sure, my son got a "participation trophy" from that lost final. He appropriately threw it in the garbage.
And he went on in life, with his work ethics, his drive, his commitment, his focus, his healthy competitive spirit, and went to Cornell University for undergrad (achieved the highest GPA in the entire class), and Yale Law School for grad school, where he earned his JD in the best law school in the nation. Now he is a very successful young lawyer, making a ton of money.
I wonder what that coach's kids are doing in life. Poor kids.