Chapter 8: The Quiet Crisis

This is going to be a LONG post.
I literally had to stop reading this chapter multiple times because I was so furious. Even now, as I write this post, I'm having a hard time thinking of what to say, because it makes me so angry to think that this country has placed itself on a downward spiral, and refuses to get off. So many examples in this chapter that made me wish that it were the end of 2008 instead of 2007. My friends and colleagues, the upcoming presidential election is now, without a doubt in my mind, the most important election in our lifetimes. We must do our research on the candidates, we must ask questions, we must make the right decision. I'm not saying I know who that person is, or even what party he or she may come from. But I do know that I am going to find out.

Friedman stated 6, count--SIX, issues that will prevent our country from being the best in the flat world. Probably the most disheartening to me (and believe me, they all made me want to slap someone...maybe a certain someone) was the ambition gap, because the ambition of our people cannot be instilled by a single person, or even by the most powerful of governments. It starts in the homes, with the parents, and this means that it is our own faults as citizens. Colleagues ( I won't call on you again throughout this rant, er, post, I promise), I urge you to instill in your children the drive that got you to pursue an MBA. Instill in them the desire to learn, even if that means that the tv must be turned off for a little while! Sure, let them be kids, they will be so anyway, but don't allow them to spend thier entire childhood slacking. We are the future of this great nation, but they are our future, and I don't want my children to be on the lower end of the global curve. Do you?

Another issue that really upset me was the education gap at the bottom. How we can continue on with the education system that we have now is beyond all logical thought. When my professors start complaining about how little he's paid and saying that he would leave if it were not for a certain radio show benefit, how is that supposed to make me feel? Empowered? Like I obviously go to one of the best schools in the country? Of course, not! And it's even worse at the grade school level. The teachers in this country are overworked and underpaid no matter where you are, but at the same time, you can see the crystal clear disparity between what you get in the city, versus what you get the farther from the city you go. I went to Seminole High School in Sanford, FL. We were a good school, with a magnet Health Academy program and a well-renowned IB program for that area. But we were in Sanford, which was, well, for lack of a better word, "ghetto." When I was there, we weren't getting any funding. The teachers there complained of the "lake effect", which was essentially this: all the high schools in predominantly white districts got the state's funding first. Lake Mary, Lake Brantley, Lake Howell. Then came Winter Springs, Lyman, and (well after I had graduated) Seminole. I loved my high school, but honestly, the place was a dump. We constantly ran out of outdated textbooks and the classrooms were well below sub-par. The newest building housed the Health Academy and IB programs, and I had 1 class in that building my entire time there. Whoo.

This also pushes me into the last issue that really affected me: The funding gap. How our government can claim to be looking out for our future economic well-being but at the same time CUT education funding is absolutely absurd. Just recently, FSU Alumni and Florida governor Charlie Crist CUT education funding to all Florida public institutions of higher education. Meanwhile, he denied the pleas of the universities to allow them to raise tuition rates. SO, remember Mr. Cranky Professor? He's not going to be getting paid any more anytime soon. There's no money to do so. There's barely enough money for paper around here. We need better buildings. We need more teachers. We need so much, but the government won't give. And it's happening at the national level. Congress has the power, yet they sit idle. They waste our money on other things. Someone tell me: What are we, as a country, going to do about it?

That's it...I'm done. There are many other things in this chapter I could rant about (HOW ARE WE 16TH IN BROADBAND PENETRATION?!) but I'm too tired. People, wake up. The world's changing, and we have to get with it.