Toddskins
Member
I just finished writing a long post, and it got lost by error. Disappointed, I went browsing the internet. Discovered the following, which in many ways, summarizes my lost post.
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There is a columnist who writes for the Asia Times under the Nom de Plume of Spengler. He is, quite simply, brilliant. He always has unique insights on religion, philosophy, culture, science, world events, politics, and economics. I've followed his work on and off for years, and longed to have someone of his caliber write for a US paper. The New York Times (which I read faithfully, though I often have to hold my nose to do it) could benefit from someone of Spengler's capabilities. He's not anti-American. He's a realist. He sees our good and bad points.
Recently he wrote
"America outspends China on defense by a margin of more than six to one, the Pentagon estimates. In another strategic dimension, though, China already holds a six-to-one advantage over the United States. Thirty-six million Chinese children study piano today, compared to only 6 million in the United States. The numbers understate the difference, for musical study in China is more demanding. "It must be a conspiracy. Chinese parents are selling plasma-screen TVs to America, and saving their wages to buy their kids pianos - making American kids stupider and Chinese kids smarter. Watch out, Americans - a generation from now, your kid is going to fetch coffee for a Chinese boss. That is a bit of an exaggeration, of course - some of the bosses will be Indian. Americans really, really don't have a clue what is coming down the pike. The present shift in intellectual capital in favor of the East has no precedent in world history. "The world's largest country is well along the way to forming an intellectual elite on a scale that the world has never seen, and against which nothing in today's world - surely not the inbred products of the Ivy League puppy mills - can compete. Few of its piano students will earn a living at the keyboard, to be sure, but many of the 36 million will become much better scientists, engineers, physicians, businessmen and military officers.”
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There is a columnist who writes for the Asia Times under the Nom de Plume of Spengler. He is, quite simply, brilliant. He always has unique insights on religion, philosophy, culture, science, world events, politics, and economics. I've followed his work on and off for years, and longed to have someone of his caliber write for a US paper. The New York Times (which I read faithfully, though I often have to hold my nose to do it) could benefit from someone of Spengler's capabilities. He's not anti-American. He's a realist. He sees our good and bad points.
Recently he wrote
"America outspends China on defense by a margin of more than six to one, the Pentagon estimates. In another strategic dimension, though, China already holds a six-to-one advantage over the United States. Thirty-six million Chinese children study piano today, compared to only 6 million in the United States. The numbers understate the difference, for musical study in China is more demanding. "It must be a conspiracy. Chinese parents are selling plasma-screen TVs to America, and saving their wages to buy their kids pianos - making American kids stupider and Chinese kids smarter. Watch out, Americans - a generation from now, your kid is going to fetch coffee for a Chinese boss. That is a bit of an exaggeration, of course - some of the bosses will be Indian. Americans really, really don't have a clue what is coming down the pike. The present shift in intellectual capital in favor of the East has no precedent in world history. "The world's largest country is well along the way to forming an intellectual elite on a scale that the world has never seen, and against which nothing in today's world - surely not the inbred products of the Ivy League puppy mills - can compete. Few of its piano students will earn a living at the keyboard, to be sure, but many of the 36 million will become much better scientists, engineers, physicians, businessmen and military officers.”
