To me, this chapter probably should have followed Chapter 5, because it would have served as the perfect answer to the burning question that I had in my mind as I finished that chapter: I know what we need to do to survive in the flat world, but can we do it?
This chapter basically says that, yes, America can survive. We have the institutions, we have the capital systems, we have the right attitudes about trust and openness, and we can make it. I loved reading about Georgia Tech and thier president's insisting on admitting more students with musical backgrounds. Being A: from Atlanta; B: a musician for 11 years; and C: a member of a fellow ACC band, it really hit home for me. It's been said that musicians are generally smarter than the average student, are better at math, and get into less trouble (all the more for us to support the arts in our public schools!) so to see a university president take notice of the academic and professional benefits of a musical background and request more of those types of students in his school really made me proud. (Oh, and he says, "Very few schools have twenty-four tubas." Your Marching Chiefs marched 23 this season. That doesn't include those who didn't march but played in the stands. And we use different tubas in the stands than we do on the field, so we've got about...50ish? God, I love Florida State.)
And there it is, we have the right institutions, we have the right economy. So why are we not taking advantage of it?
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Way to toot your own horn Matt! Ok that was my attempt at comedy. This chapter was a sigh of relief; it made me feel we had hope. It also made me feel that Friedman is rather wishy-washy. In one chapter, he says focus on math, science, and engineering. He seems to suggest we do not focus enough on education. Then he flips the script and says we need more art and leisure to make us more open, well rounded and creative. I do think we need both but to me he presents his arguments as if they cannot co-exist
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