I was reading an article earlier today in Foreign Policy magazine by Mishaal al Gergawi, an Emirates Political columnist. It was about the state of America's education system and I have to say, for an outsider, he has hit the nail on the head.
He starts out by comparing America to the Ottoman empire at its decline, and says that at the root of our problems is one we ourselves have created, the knowledge economy. Just as the Industrial Revolution displaced workers, there will be many, he says, whose skill sets just won't be needed in this new age. Quite frankly, there won't be enough new jobs created to replace the old ones which are disappearing.
Worse yet, the American education system is in an abysmal state, he says. Not the universities, they are still the envy of the world. But at the high school level, America ranked 31st of 65 countries in math proficiency according to the OECD, and has a high school dropout rate of 30%. "What will these people do?" asks al Gergawi. "How will they live?" (I can tell you: not very well.) He says it is no wonder that America's Ph.D. students, especially in science and engineering, come increasingly from overseas. I can vouch for that as well: take a look at any scientific publication, and you will find Asian names galore. It is not uncommon to hear Mandarin or any of the Indian languages spoken in the hallways at my workplace. People are up in arms about Mexican migrants and how they are taking "our" jobs: well, it is not Juan or Felipe they need to worry about, but Zheng and Ashok. I firmly believe that the 21st century will be increasingly an Asian century.
Al Gergawi goes on to warn, "If the United States continues to look to the tech sector to lead it out of recession while maintaining an unemployment rate close to 10 percent, it may well have nothing more than a feudal recovery, one in which those who have the immediate skills or the wealth to take part in it do so and those who don't remain unemployed--a techno-aristocracy of sorts."
"I recently asked an American businessman what many unemployed Americans will do if they can't find new jobs comparable to their old ones," he concluded. "'Go back to farming,' he said. And it didn't entirely sound like a joke."
But the problem is, where are they going to farm? Farming isn't exactly a low-skill, low-tech activity these days. And that will bring them into direct competition with Miguel and Jose in the few areas that do rely on hand labor. And a lot of farmland that would otherwise been available lies under subdivisions. So where are they going to go and what are they going to do?
Right after that I had a conversation with a co-worker. She was telling me about her son and his live-in girlfriend and how they both needed to get off their asses and get a job. Apparently the girlfriend claims health issues and is unable to work. I said, "What skills do they have? What education?" And she said, "They can do anything, they can learn anything." No, you just don't get it. What. Are. Their. Qualifications? When I hear a response like that I already know the answer. They are unskilled and have no education. The very people al Gergawi is talking about. You don't need an education she said. If you can do the damn job, you don't need a degree. (I must add she works in one of the few jobs at my company that does not require higher education.) Oh, yes, you do. It hasn't sunk in to people like her, that Yes, You Do.
And it is so sad because I can't help them. I am part of an international professional women's group, and one of the things we do is we look out for each other. When someone hears of a job opening, they immediately e-mail all the others. So there are jobs out there. But the sad thing is, not for my friend or her son or her son's girlfriend. They don't have the skill or education level to qualify for. Their world is fast food, waitressing, housekeeping, nurses' aides, that sort of thing. They are there not because they had a burning desire to be there, they are there by default, because there are no other options. And at that level, talk of motivation, talk of soul-fulfilling work, talk of dream jobs, is simply that--talk.
He starts out by comparing America to the Ottoman empire at its decline, and says that at the root of our problems is one we ourselves have created, the knowledge economy. Just as the Industrial Revolution displaced workers, there will be many, he says, whose skill sets just won't be needed in this new age. Quite frankly, there won't be enough new jobs created to replace the old ones which are disappearing.
Worse yet, the American education system is in an abysmal state, he says. Not the universities, they are still the envy of the world. But at the high school level, America ranked 31st of 65 countries in math proficiency according to the OECD, and has a high school dropout rate of 30%. "What will these people do?" asks al Gergawi. "How will they live?" (I can tell you: not very well.) He says it is no wonder that America's Ph.D. students, especially in science and engineering, come increasingly from overseas. I can vouch for that as well: take a look at any scientific publication, and you will find Asian names galore. It is not uncommon to hear Mandarin or any of the Indian languages spoken in the hallways at my workplace. People are up in arms about Mexican migrants and how they are taking "our" jobs: well, it is not Juan or Felipe they need to worry about, but Zheng and Ashok. I firmly believe that the 21st century will be increasingly an Asian century.
Al Gergawi goes on to warn, "If the United States continues to look to the tech sector to lead it out of recession while maintaining an unemployment rate close to 10 percent, it may well have nothing more than a feudal recovery, one in which those who have the immediate skills or the wealth to take part in it do so and those who don't remain unemployed--a techno-aristocracy of sorts."
"I recently asked an American businessman what many unemployed Americans will do if they can't find new jobs comparable to their old ones," he concluded. "'Go back to farming,' he said. And it didn't entirely sound like a joke."
But the problem is, where are they going to farm? Farming isn't exactly a low-skill, low-tech activity these days. And that will bring them into direct competition with Miguel and Jose in the few areas that do rely on hand labor. And a lot of farmland that would otherwise been available lies under subdivisions. So where are they going to go and what are they going to do?
Right after that I had a conversation with a co-worker. She was telling me about her son and his live-in girlfriend and how they both needed to get off their asses and get a job. Apparently the girlfriend claims health issues and is unable to work. I said, "What skills do they have? What education?" And she said, "They can do anything, they can learn anything." No, you just don't get it. What. Are. Their. Qualifications? When I hear a response like that I already know the answer. They are unskilled and have no education. The very people al Gergawi is talking about. You don't need an education she said. If you can do the damn job, you don't need a degree. (I must add she works in one of the few jobs at my company that does not require higher education.) Oh, yes, you do. It hasn't sunk in to people like her, that Yes, You Do.
And it is so sad because I can't help them. I am part of an international professional women's group, and one of the things we do is we look out for each other. When someone hears of a job opening, they immediately e-mail all the others. So there are jobs out there. But the sad thing is, not for my friend or her son or her son's girlfriend. They don't have the skill or education level to qualify for. Their world is fast food, waitressing, housekeeping, nurses' aides, that sort of thing. They are there not because they had a burning desire to be there, they are there by default, because there are no other options. And at that level, talk of motivation, talk of soul-fulfilling work, talk of dream jobs, is simply that--talk.
