Root Causes of the Decline of the West
远古的风 于 【文学城】的〖古风无痕〗博客 2011-03-06
A very good painting of what is going to happen in the US:
Documentary: I.O.U.S.A. (2009), directed by Patrick Creadon
http://www.amazon.com/i-o-u-s-David-Walker-Peterson-Foundation/dp/B001P9G3HE
http://www.amazon.ca/I-O-U-S-a/dp/B002612S42
Capitalism: A Love Story (2009), directed by Michael Moore
http://www.amazon.com/Capitalism-Love-Story-Michael-Moore/dp/B0030Y11XS
http://www.amazon.ca/Capitalism-Love-Story-Michael-Moore/dp/B003439LIC
Aside from ism, the truly insightful comment of "Capitalism: A Love Story" lies at 01:02:30-01:03:24, in less than 60 seconds, the secondary root cause for the Western decline is plainly stated by Prof. William Black:
"... Today, our best minds are used for something else. Where do we send our top math and science people? Into finance. They do not go to science in the America; they go to Wall Street. ... instead of working for the common good. We've taken people that could be enormously productive, just we are short of in the America, and we've taken them and put them in activity that is not simply less productive, but where that is actually destructive: where actually every day they work, they make the world worse. ..."
This is of course the consequence of the primary root cause, the severe deterioration of basic education system for the past 30 years:
http://www.rinr.fsu.edu/summer2004/coverstory.html
http://richarddawkins.net/videos/525724-gathering-storm%E2%80%99-approaching-category-5
http://news.creaders.net/headline/newsViewer.php?nid=449061&id=1017330
http://watch.thecomedynetwork.ca/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart/full-episodes/#clip356338
(I will try to write a more detailed article on this matter later.)
NEW YORK — An unprecedented study that followed several thousand undergraduates through four years of college found that large numbers didn't learn the critical thinking, complex reasoning and written communication skills that are widely assumed to be at the core of a college education. Howard Gardner, a professor at Harvard's Graduate School of Education known for his theory of multiple intelligences, said the study underscores the need for higher education to push students harder. Read more:
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/01/18/106949/study-many-college-students-not.html
Also check out the latest from Fox News:
China's Rise, America's Fall? | Glenn Beck
http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/glenn-beck/transcript/chinas-rise-americas-fall
Fast forward to page 4 of the transcript and read the words of Jim Rogers (reproduced below):
"The average American has got to start with education, with their children and grandchildren. I have a daughter. When she was in the first grade in Singapore, had more homework than I ever had in any year of my elementary school. She's doing things in the second grade that I'm having trouble helping her with in her math.
"I can't believe what they're demanding of her. It's very rigorous. It's very demanding. And all these kids are working their heads off. She's in the second grade. You know, China produces something like 20 or 30 times as many engineers every year as we do in America. We don't teach math. We don't teach science. We teach self-esteem. In Singapore, you have to earn your self-esteem. You know, you're not told about self-esteem, you have to earn it."
Democrazy made in the USA: democracy is orchestrated by ill-informed, poorly educated, and ultra-selfish crowd, and the results will be long-lasting suffering. From my own educational experience, I have found that the western population is increasingly lacking the basic abilities to think correctly and critically. This is the root cause for the decline of the West and there is no turning back. From now on (actually from the end of the Reagan years, 1989), the US along with its western friends will go downhill. It is also a wonder that so many western people are extremely confident about themselves and their ability to rebuild their societies. Unfortunately, such a fest requires high-quality education from grade 1 onward based on real assessment of students' performance, not on empty praises. Tragically, empty praises have become the social norm of all western societies: students get high marks for not doing much at all. Also, teachers at all levels of the education system scale students' grades up so that everyone involved is happy for the results. This is the exact practice brought down the western financial system in 2008 and will be the exact reason for its further decline in coming years.
http://bbs.wforum.com/wmf/bbsviewer.php?trd_id=90707
Obviously, the current Chinese government is the wisest one in the world. While the Western governments spent billions on bailouts of their banks and obsolete industries (including the auto and road-construction industries), the Chinese government instead invested massively on public transit, infrastructure, green technologies, and education. Ten to 15 years down the road, the benefits of the Chinese investment will begin to manifest whereas the suffering of the Western democrazy-driven short-sighted policies will further short-circuit the Western socioeconomic progress. We just need to wait for the triple-digit oil prices to return and see the above forecast to unfold before our very own eyes.
See what are the desperate deeds of the US:
http://news.creaders.net/headline/newsViewer.php?nid=428481&id=976642
http://news.creaders.net/us/newsViewer.php?nid=428226&id=976127
Elizabeth Warren: The Coming Collapse of the Middle Class in the US
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akVL7QY0S8A
What the future will look like:
http://seekingalpha.com/article/199443-10-top-green-giants
Finally, let's read a recent news item:
http://news.creaders.net/photo/newsViewer.php?nid=463938&id=1047372
这其实只是冰山一角：在美国，凡是与军工（还有高端生物科技）有关的项目，华人（不论你是大陆人、还是台湾人或香港人）和俄国人都是被排除在外。因此，这些与国家竞争力直接相关的项目的结果的好坏就是西方科技（包括精密加工制造业）的最直接表现。现在，可以很肯定地说：以美国为代表的西方科技已经深陷在严重的衰败过程之中了。其跟本原因在于西方基础教育（从小学到大学本科）的缺失：西方如今已经产生不出足够数量的本土杰出科技人才了。从美国F35的难产到F22的忽悠，我们都可以观察出好些端倪来。在如此的状况下，我们就可以好好地品味一下“巧妇难为”的好戏了：
http://news.creaders.net/headline/newsViewer.php?nid=463988&id=1047472
如果您对美国（以及西方）的衰落还不是很确定，请进一步参阅：
Lament for America by Earl H. Fry (University of Toronto Press, 2010)
http://www.amazon.com/Lament-America-Decline-Superpower-Renewal/dp/1442601914
http://www.amazon.ca/Lament-America-Decline-Superpower-Renewal/dp/1442601914
