a test of brains, vision, and national " maturity"

Jlevine
Northampton Mass and Quebec


Now, we have come close to the real test. In face of a declining public education standard and product, with fewer people conversant with history, with empty and markedly ignorant rhetoric flourishing, we will find out if have simply become too stupid for the demands of the 21st Century. Tea Party marches, railings against government by people still lining up for Medicare, Social Security, and vitriol quite close to justification of future violence portends something quite frightening.

Nations will prosper only if they are smart enough to understand the complexities of monetary policy, the frailty of economic models, the tensions between modernity and the romanticized past, and the emergence of both the developing world and the decline of a Euro-centric globe. It is a test of brains, vision, and national " maturity". After reading the simplistic and grievously shallow pronouncements of the new Republican Right, I can only say....we may not, as a nation, be up to the tasks. What has failed is the ability to root the body politic in education, to value merit and expertise, and to encourage a style of discourse that predicts for a prospering nation.