© 2008, the Institute for Applied Common Sense
Over this past weekend, we suggested that our readers watch a panel discussion on the economy aired on C-Span2 Book TV (http://www.booktv.org/program.aspx?ProgramId=9889&SectionName=Politics&PlayMedia=No). The panel consisted of authors and columnists not normally associated with a discussion of national economic issues, and yet we thought that what they had to say might be instructive.
After all, the folks with all the economic and financial training, and purported expertise, managed to foul it up. Why not hear the views of some folks with different perspectives? The panelists were Thomas Friedman (http://www.thomaslfriedman.com/), Barbara Ehrenreich (http://www.barbaraehrenreich.com/), and Michelle Singletary (http://www.michellesingletary.com/).
Over the past couple of months while Friedman has promoted his latest work, Hot, Flat and Crowded (http://books.google.com/books?id=vQxnKb_GZvcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=%22hot,+flat,+and+crowded%22&ei=pgj8SMr1NJWyyQS_oKXFDQ), he has argued that although he does not advocate a Manhattan Project-type response to our current energy and climate change issues, he does feel that some government “encouragement” is needed.
During the course of the discussion on the economy, Friedman generally took the position that the private sector is better at solving problems and coming up with innovative solutions. Ehrenreich, out of concern that the audience might think that within the private sector lies the solutions to our problems, reminded us that the private sector had recently failed us, and plunged our nation into a precarious situation.
In thinking about it further after the conclusion of the program, I recognized that at least in the case of the private sector, the company dies and discontinues doing business, when it is not properly managed. In the case of government, it can make all sorts of bad decisions, adverse to the interests of its constituents, and the government will continue to roll on and collect more taxes. Consequently, there is not much incentive to change, adapt, or innovate. Only the elected leaders periodically change. The employees pretty much continue to do what they do, despite the failed policies of, and execution by, the governmental entity.
Several months ago, the local school board requested that members of the public attend the public hearing before the Guilford County Board of Commissioners to let the Commissioners know that the public desired that the full funds, requested for the upcoming school year, be included in the final approved budget. At that time, I chose to use the opportunity to make a point, not about how much money be spent, but the manner in which it be spent.
I argued on behalf of more funding for science, math, and other courses that would lead to more inventors, scientists, engineers, and people capable of inventing innovative products. I argued that this would ultimately translate to producing things again, from which jobs and tax revenue would flow. I further argued that a society, whose jobs primarily consisted of those in the areas of education, government, and healthcare, are essentially welfare societies, without an affirmative engine to drive the economy.
Yesterday, we posted an article about the techno-cultural divide in the US, which appears to be widening between the haves/educated class, and the have-nots/poorly educated class. (http://theviewfromoutsidemytinywindow.blogspot.com/2008/10/post-no-56-i-may-not-know-how-to-define.html.) We suggested that society come up with some innovative approaches to narrow that gap, in order to prevent the long-term, negative ramifications on society at large.
Later during the day, in thinking about my comments to the Board of Commissioners, I realized that I did not recall seeing a single, governmental official or politician participating in the blogging and social media and networking technology conference (http://2008.convergesouth.com/) which I had attended. That is not to say that they were not there; however, it sure wasn’t obvious.
There were participants and contributors from New York, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Charleston, SC, and the Silicon Valley. It was a major event, and yet there was no obvious governmental involvement of which I was aware. Politicians routinely show up at churches, hospitals, restaurants, schools, and such. We need government – private sector collaboration, if we are going to encourage the pursuit of science and innovation in our society, particularly amongst our youth. Just showing up at this technology conference, to acknowledge the role of, and encouragement by, government, would have been a nice start.
Perhaps if we had more accountants, business people, engineers, and scientists, and fewer lawyers as politicians, we might fare better. We had better pay more attention to science and technology. Our global competitors are making substantial strides in the world of technology, and with quite a bit of our help.
© 2008, the Institute for Applied Common Sense
Showing posts with label technological divide. Show all posts
Showing posts with label technological divide. Show all posts
Monday, October 20, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Post No. 56: I May Not Know How to Define It; But I Know It When I See It – The Techno-Cultural Divide
© 2008, the Institute for Applied Common Sense
A lot of us may not witness and appreciate it on a daily basis, but there is a significant techno-cultural divide in this country. I’m sure that you have heard of, or read about, this before; however, it is a far more troubling thing to witness in operation.
Some months ago, I was an instructor at a local community college, teaching math and English to adult students seeking their GEDs. Many of the students had fourth grade skill levels upon entry into the various GED programs available. On any given day, there were thousands of students coming through the doors.
At some point during my time there, the administration decided to add beginner’s computer courses, several of which I taught. The Tuesday and Thursday, 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm class, had reasonable attendance when the class was first offered. The initial Friday evening, 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm class had even better attendance. (I should note that this class consisted entirely of immigrants, from Egypt, Columbia, Mexico, Iran, Cambodia, and Togo, and not one, single, native-born American, including blacks and whites.
In each instance, there were open seats and underutilized computers. Consequently, I mounted a personal quest to inform other potential students, and their instructors, of the availability of all classes being taught throughout the week at all times of day, including Saturday morning.
As the new quarter approached, I generated a written schedule of all classes, made copies, and personally traveled to all of the GED classes being held during the morning and early afternoon, and during the evening. I explained to the students the importance of computer skills, and at one point mentioned that one could find a job using a computer.
Out of the back of the room came a startled utterance, “Mr. Logistician, you mean I could find a job using the computer?” Once I began to explore the various vehicles for doing so, many of the students requested copies of the course schedule. In thinking further about the young lady’s excitement, I realized that certain ones of us are not aware of vehicles or mechanisms, about which others of us know, and which we take for granted as having the capability of advancing our personal interests.
Come the new quarter, my supervisor contacted me and indicated that too few new students had signed up for the mid-week class, and that it would be canceled if I could not round up additional students. Despite my best efforts, the class was cancelled, although I did manage to convince some new students to attend classes taught by other instructors, during other time slots.
The Friday evening class went forward, but with only 5 or so students. Once again, all of them were immigrants.
Shifting to a whole different mindset, during the past 3 days, I participated in a blogging and social media technology conference in the southeast. It reminded me of the spirit, energy, and vision that I witnessed in the tech community when I practiced intellectual property law, and met all sorts of inventors and scientists.
During the first day, Microsoft representatives touted their latest web design software, capable of doing amazing things. Over the course of the next two days, I met all sorts of internet entrepreneurs, including Robert Scoble (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Scoble), converting virtually nothing into something significant, while using minimal physical tools and a minimal monetary investment – primarily relying on their wits and ingenuity.
I watched some relatively young folks, primarily in their mid-20s to mid-30s, explain the internet businesses which they had created, and I marveled at their skills. During the last day, what initially began as a discussion about whether bloggers should adhere to some undetermined standard or code of conduct, transitioned into a discussion of whether bloggers had an ethical or societal responsibility to ensure that some of our readers were not “adversely affected” by such things as improper grammar and biased analyses in our articles.
And then someone summed it up quite well. The folks in the room all had the ability to speak to the educated, informed technical community, as well as to my former students. My former students, and others of similar educational status, could only speak one language, and perhaps also could not read, which further frustrated their ability to get ahead.
A couple of the young presenters were just crackerjack sharp and articulate as all get up. One indicated that he had been home-schooled. That got me to thinking about the role of parents. Interestingly, just an hour or two ago, I received an e-mail from a childhood friend of mine, thanking me for directing her, and her two children, to a salon type forum, where issues are discussed in a civil context by some very interesting new thinkers. What struck me was the fact that my friend’s family conducted their discussions of issues as a group, within their family.
There is such a wide, and I mean w-i-d-e, difference between the adult students (many of whom are in their late teens and twenties) and the folks with whom I spent my last few days at ConvergeSouth (http://2008.convergesouth.com).
Most of us do not walk the tight rope, or the zig-zagging road, between both sides of the cultural canyon on a daily basis. We generally chose only one world view.
Should we be concerned and alarmed about relatively minor differences in performance? Perhaps not.
Should we be concerned about the expanse of this particular educational chasm? Most definitely; and we all should. It affects us all. We all should figure out a way to do our part to narrow it.
No statistics or studies are necessary to justify adopting a different attitude about this divide. Just look around you.
Somebody, DO SOMETHING!
© 2008, the Institute for Applied Common Sense
A lot of us may not witness and appreciate it on a daily basis, but there is a significant techno-cultural divide in this country. I’m sure that you have heard of, or read about, this before; however, it is a far more troubling thing to witness in operation.
Some months ago, I was an instructor at a local community college, teaching math and English to adult students seeking their GEDs. Many of the students had fourth grade skill levels upon entry into the various GED programs available. On any given day, there were thousands of students coming through the doors.
At some point during my time there, the administration decided to add beginner’s computer courses, several of which I taught. The Tuesday and Thursday, 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm class, had reasonable attendance when the class was first offered. The initial Friday evening, 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm class had even better attendance. (I should note that this class consisted entirely of immigrants, from Egypt, Columbia, Mexico, Iran, Cambodia, and Togo, and not one, single, native-born American, including blacks and whites.
In each instance, there were open seats and underutilized computers. Consequently, I mounted a personal quest to inform other potential students, and their instructors, of the availability of all classes being taught throughout the week at all times of day, including Saturday morning.
As the new quarter approached, I generated a written schedule of all classes, made copies, and personally traveled to all of the GED classes being held during the morning and early afternoon, and during the evening. I explained to the students the importance of computer skills, and at one point mentioned that one could find a job using a computer.
Out of the back of the room came a startled utterance, “Mr. Logistician, you mean I could find a job using the computer?” Once I began to explore the various vehicles for doing so, many of the students requested copies of the course schedule. In thinking further about the young lady’s excitement, I realized that certain ones of us are not aware of vehicles or mechanisms, about which others of us know, and which we take for granted as having the capability of advancing our personal interests.
Come the new quarter, my supervisor contacted me and indicated that too few new students had signed up for the mid-week class, and that it would be canceled if I could not round up additional students. Despite my best efforts, the class was cancelled, although I did manage to convince some new students to attend classes taught by other instructors, during other time slots.
The Friday evening class went forward, but with only 5 or so students. Once again, all of them were immigrants.
Shifting to a whole different mindset, during the past 3 days, I participated in a blogging and social media technology conference in the southeast. It reminded me of the spirit, energy, and vision that I witnessed in the tech community when I practiced intellectual property law, and met all sorts of inventors and scientists.
During the first day, Microsoft representatives touted their latest web design software, capable of doing amazing things. Over the course of the next two days, I met all sorts of internet entrepreneurs, including Robert Scoble (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Scoble), converting virtually nothing into something significant, while using minimal physical tools and a minimal monetary investment – primarily relying on their wits and ingenuity.
I watched some relatively young folks, primarily in their mid-20s to mid-30s, explain the internet businesses which they had created, and I marveled at their skills. During the last day, what initially began as a discussion about whether bloggers should adhere to some undetermined standard or code of conduct, transitioned into a discussion of whether bloggers had an ethical or societal responsibility to ensure that some of our readers were not “adversely affected” by such things as improper grammar and biased analyses in our articles.
And then someone summed it up quite well. The folks in the room all had the ability to speak to the educated, informed technical community, as well as to my former students. My former students, and others of similar educational status, could only speak one language, and perhaps also could not read, which further frustrated their ability to get ahead.
A couple of the young presenters were just crackerjack sharp and articulate as all get up. One indicated that he had been home-schooled. That got me to thinking about the role of parents. Interestingly, just an hour or two ago, I received an e-mail from a childhood friend of mine, thanking me for directing her, and her two children, to a salon type forum, where issues are discussed in a civil context by some very interesting new thinkers. What struck me was the fact that my friend’s family conducted their discussions of issues as a group, within their family.
There is such a wide, and I mean w-i-d-e, difference between the adult students (many of whom are in their late teens and twenties) and the folks with whom I spent my last few days at ConvergeSouth (http://2008.convergesouth.com).
Most of us do not walk the tight rope, or the zig-zagging road, between both sides of the cultural canyon on a daily basis. We generally chose only one world view.
Should we be concerned and alarmed about relatively minor differences in performance? Perhaps not.
Should we be concerned about the expanse of this particular educational chasm? Most definitely; and we all should. It affects us all. We all should figure out a way to do our part to narrow it.
No statistics or studies are necessary to justify adopting a different attitude about this divide. Just look around you.
Somebody, DO SOMETHING!
© 2008, the Institute for Applied Common Sense
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