Freedom Scores for Candidates:
1. Teach Our Children Mandarin!

Posted by Bob on December 10th, 2007

I missed my YouTube Presentation of Questions to the candidates because I was too old (young) to ask questions about the future (past). Furthermore, my question was too long (short) to reflect how much (little) I know about current (past) political elections. So here goes!

Several months ago, we pulled together a sampling of Route 128, Boston, business executives for a focus group on economic intelligence. I had one question for them:

“What new breakthrough technologies are coming down the pike to replace the now-attenuating multi-trillion dollar market generated by information technologies?”

After some huffing and haranguing over soft suggestions of nano-technologies, solar fuel substitutes, biophysics and the like, the 20 executives converged on one unanimous answer:

“None!”

To their minds, no technologies were capable of generating the robust and ubiquitous, multi-trillion dollar economic growth-power of I.T.!

The second question that I had drawn from their answer to the first reflected upon the executive policy-making dominating the latter part of the 20th century:

“In light of your answer, why do you persevere in your policies of extinguishing the ‘R’ in R & D?”

Again, after much haranguing about long-term debts and short-term payoffs, the executives answered with one voice:

“Teach our children Mandarin!”

This from a representative sampling of the executives of “Silicon Valley East!”

So my question is this:

“On what course are you leaders taking American in the 21st century?

“Another way of putting the question is this: How will you empower America to assume the leadership of the world in the 21st century?

“Or, is this truly the Chinese century?”

I will even provide the format for answers:

“When I am president,
I will (will not) do anything (nothing)
that will (will not) inspire
leadership (followership)
in the 21st century
global (local) village.”

Comments

  1. patricia vlahos Says:

    Dear Bob,

    I do not think that the language children speak will make a difference in their capacity to take on the mantle of leadership for the 21st century. The self-confidence and experience in problem solving, in asking “what-if” questions, the ability to break down big tasks into small tasks and relate to other’s point of view are simple but profound prerequisites for higher level thinking and leadership. “Our children,” the children of the world, are lacking these skills, in both developed and underdeveloped countries. Whether a child is reared in a refuge camp in Kenya, or in Beverly Hills, CA, the deficit is the same. Adults too preoccupied with “survival” however that is defined, are leaving the children to their own devices. Adults model self-focused points of view, and children watch, in every language. Adults calculate the odds, and children determine how little they have to do to get by, in every language. The few that are resilient will be shouldered with the burden of the damaged, and adults and children will pay the price, in every language.
    There is much to do, and too few to do it, in every language.
    pv

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