But this is by no means the first time America has been in crisis, be it the Revolutionary War, Civil War or the Great Depression.
According to this article in the Boston Globe, it has been our spirit of innovation that has seen us through the tough times and into new ages of prosperity. Today, though, "the United States...suffers from a national deficit of inspiration; we believe too little in our power to invent a better future to focus on priorities that will pay off not in the next quarter or even the next election cycle, but in the generations."
True statement? Too much American Idol and not enough creative inspiration? Or is the next big wave of technological innovation right around the corner? Or is the next big wave of innovation already HERE in the form of iPads, robotics and the like?
Well, whether you like it or not, American Idol is its own form of creativity and I respect that. The vacuum I think is in the kind of media that's neither interactive (in a positive way) or inspiring (in a positive way). We've raised a generatin (or two) of people who are so used to information being laid in their laps that they don't know how to reason for themselves. They can't problem solve. They're rarely asked to.
ReplyDeleteToo many people live in a hamster wheel where they find a rut they like ( or that they're just used to), they learn the routine of their own particular rut and they stay in it. Public education doesn't do much to encourage students to do otherwise. Teachers teach to the test. Administrators hire according to charts. Children just do what they have to in order to graduate.