American Businesses

I recently read a book by Thomas Freidman titled "That Used To Be Us". This book was concerned with the future of America. It pointed out a lot of problems with fundamental American establishments and gave some ideas on how to correct them. It was a very interesting book and had a lot of interesting information. I thought the most interesting part was its focus on education in America. It gave some very interesting statistics that I feel all Americans should be aware of when it comes to the education of our youth. We actually have very average education levels compared to other countries throughout the world. This does not bode well for the future of our country. Education is one of the most important foundations of a country. The success of business in America and our economy is dependent on creative, educated individuals who can come up with innovative new ideas and businesses. Education is key in developing these individuals to be the force behind our economy.

This will require America to put a greater emphasis on the importance of education. In most countries they consider the most prestigious position to be teachers. In America it is certainly not that way. We have some incredibly intelligent teachers in America, but we lose many of our brightest students to other more lucrative professions. This is a problem for our country. All of these bright students from other countries used to come to America to start business, but America has become stagnant. These students from other countries now realize after they get their degrees that they can go back to their home country and start successful "garage" companies. America is no longer retaining the top talent from other countries that they used too. Combined with the education in America it has caused hard economic times in our country. It is not the only cause of this problem but certainly a major one. The fix for this problem will have to come from within our political system.

However, that is not very likely as things currently stand. democrats and republicans are at a standoff in Washington and nothing will be accomplished with the government in its current state. No one will cede to the other, and it is hurting the country. They will never agree on an issue like education because it will require increased funding which will require an increase to taxes. Something the republicans will never agree too. However, I am not blaming the republicans I just see the need for compromise from both sides. Right now the economy will only be fixed with compromise in Washington. Without compromise from the political parties this country will continue on its downward trend. I am hopeful however that the American spirit will prevail in the future.