The New York Times recently editorialized that: "The United States could easily fall from its privileged perch in the global economy unless it does something about the horrendous state of science education at both the public school and university levels."
This is simply the horrible truth of it, of course. In spite of conservative belief, the economy does not begin with money. Like everything else, including religions and philosophies, the economy begins with ideas. The proposed solution to this sorry state of affairs in American education is, of all things, an educational solution. The solution "means finding ways to enliven a dry and dispiriting style of science instruction that leads as many as half of the country's aspiring scientists to quit the field before they leave college."
This solution, of course, begs the question as to how and why science education in America ended up being seen as "dry and dispiriting" in the first place. One can also ask how this happened in a nation birthed from human values and knowledge. Clearly, the problems go deeper than the curriculum in science and how science is currently taught.
"The emerging consensus among educators is that students need early, engaging experiences in the lab — and much more mentoring than most of them receive now — to maintain their interest and inspire them to take up careers in the sciences."
This is all well and good but it seriously misses the point. In fact, it couldn't miss the point any more so. Making science education more entertaining and engaging will not hurt a thing but, as one might expect of thought under capitalism, that is not the core problem. It is not even close.
The problem is that science and natural philosophy (from whence came American democracy) are no longer employed in making American policy at home, in the community, in our nation or abroad. Science is taught without obvious relationship to anything natural philosophical or political, and it ends up having little relevance to the comprehension of the world and current reality. Science has come to be mostly dedicated to technology, a tool for use in the corporate agenda of making money and buying power.
The year 1984 marked the turning point in America, when most U.S. youth gave up on science to opt for a degree in business, an "MBA" degree. We are talking here about learning, presumably as a branch of knowledge, the "bidness" of "bidness." How this constitutes a knowledge base upon which to build a meaningful life is anybody's guess. It only defines how business works at a given point in time, which over the past three decades would sketch out the path to corporate and governmental corruption.
This was part and parcel of capitalism's imposed change in the "why" of getting a college or university education. By the mid 1980s, one no longer went to college to learn how the world works and discover oneself in human knowledge. Under capitalism, one went to college to get a "good education," so one could get a "good job" and make "good money."
Just exactly what the holder of an MBA degree "knows" can be left largely up to the imagination. Consider, for example, George W. Bush. We do know that MBAs make good money playing games with the money that new ideas bring into the world. We do know that Bush is a graduate of both Harvard and Yale, so we know that such degrees are not difficult or demanding to obtain.
We do know that MBAs cum CEOs can be enormously creative in corruption (e.g., Enron™). Indeed (and this is a central point), a knowledgeable education would be a detriment to being a good MBA because one is certain to encounter knowledge that is inconsistent with the monied and control-oriented goals of capitalism. Its a no-win, sure-lose situation in which it is easier to simply dispense with logic and go for the goals.
In the cultural sense, capitalism has screwed American socioeconomics up entirely, from the top down, by convincing people one way or another that religion and money make better bottom lines than knowledge and democracy, by convincing the people that money is the source of everything American. If only America had enough money, of course, we could possibly even consider honoring human rights.
We have created an economic system in which generally-applicable human knowledge (knowledge that can be employed to better comprehend life and even religion and politics) is irrelevant to successful surviving and thriving in America. Mostly, Americans do not want into the idea end of things but into the retail end of things, never mind the learning and doing, just cut the business "managers" in for the larger portion of the profits.
In a manufactured world in which knowlege and natural philosophy no longer play a role, in which human rights are trampled every day, and in which money and capitalism seem to define and dominate everything, we might anticipate America's youth to have no particular interest in science. It may be the only legitimate human starting point, but that was yesterday and we are making money today.
Conférence 'Italie/Europe: La démocratie en danger' avec Beppe Grillo, 6 février 2010 - Paris Marianne Ranke-Cormier, directrice de publication de Newropeans Magazine présente Franck Biancheri, président de Newropeans, un des pères fondateurs du programme Erasmus et directeur de recherche de LEAP2020.
2010 bis 2020: Gold erringt K.O.-Sieg über den DollarThursday, 04 February 2010 | Leap/E2020Die US-Zentralbank ist nicht mehr in der Lage, ihren Jahrzehnte langen Kampf gegen Gold unter dem Schlagwort vom „Überbleibsel aus barbarischen Zeiten“ führen, mit dem die alles überragende Stellung des Dollars im internationalen Währungssystem... Weiter lesen
[Conferenza] LA DEMOCRAZIA IN PERICOLO - Italia - Europa - I cittadini resistonoThursday, 04 February 2010 | Newropeans
Il bisogno di democrazia in Europa è sempre più forte. Le forze democratiche tentano di ridurre i nostri diritti impedendoci di poter scegliere liberamente mantenendo così al potere, nei nostri paesi e sul nostro continente, un élite corrotta... Legga più
Kapuscinski: ritratto e autoritratto di un esploratore di animeThursday, 04 February 2010 | Damiano Mazzotti “Kapuscinski. Opere” è la meravigliosa biografia del più grande reporter di guerra (1932-2007), con la raccolta degli scritti più preziosi e “magici” di uno dei più grandi interpreti di culture (Mondadori, 2009). Legga più
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Zapatero, Galeano y HaitíThursday, 04 February 2010 | Alberto Montero SolerMientras la comunidad internacional alerta sobre la ocupación militar estadounidense de Haití realizada bajo la excusa de la ayuda humanitaria, al presidente Zapatero no se le ocurre otra cosa que decir en el Parlamento Europeo que “ver... Lea el artículo
[Europese gedachten] De schijndemocratie van het burgerintiatiefThursday, 04 February 2010 | Chris AalbertsBinnenkort begint eindelijk de Europese directe democratie. In het verdrag van Lissabon is de mogelijkheid van een burgerinitiatief opgenomen: burgers kunnen een voorstel doen aan de Europese Commissie om een wetsvoorstel te maken op een bepaald... Lees meer
Het kost een paar centen.... Thursday, 04 February 2010 | Veronique SwinkelsVolgens de Brusselse professor Matthijs hebben wij in Nederland het op een na duurste koningshuis van de wereld. Alleen de Britse koningin leeft op grotere voet. ... Of we goedkoper uit zouden zijn met een President is natuurlijk ook maar de vraag.... Lees meer
The three post-war scenarios regarding EU-US relations
On March 17th 2003, seven years ago, on the eve of the US invasion of Iraq, Franck Biancheri published three scenarios attempting to describe the war's possible consequences. Among the three he qualified one as most likely to happen. Because of its striking anticipation of what is indeed happening today, we have decided to put it online again. Upon whom will the ashes of Baghdad fall down?The three post-war scenarios regarding EU-US relations
Sharp eye - Regards européensNo commentFriday, 22 January 2010Nick Reilly, GM’s European president, believes that the European car market is suffering from a structural supply surplus....
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292 - 5 millions - 2 milliardsThursday, 21 January 2010
292 morts, plus de 5 millions de personnes vaccinées au 1er janvier… et une facture de 2 milliards d’euros. Tel est le coût estimé de 3 mois de... + Full Story
We all are Icelanders, fed up to pay for the banks failures! In any case, to prove that all Europeans are not like the British and Dutch governments, Newropeans is launching a petition called « We all are Icelanders, fed up with paying for banks failures» and aiming at gathering popular support for the Icelandic resistance to the current outrageous 'financial order'.
► SIGN HERE
Nous sommes tous des Islandais, ras le bol de payer pour les banquiers! Pour prouver que tous les Européens ne sont pas à l'image des gouvernements britannique et néerlandais, Newropeans lance la pétition "Nous sommes tous des Islandais, ras le bol de payer pour les banquiers! " pour rassembler un soutien populaire à la résistance des Islandais à l'inique "ordre financier" actuel. ► SIGNEZ LA PETITION ICI
Transcontinental 
This is simply the horrible truth of it, of course. In spite of conservative belief, the economy does not begin with money. Like everything else, including religions and philosophies, the economy begins with ideas. The proposed solution to this sorry state of affairs in American education is, of all things, an educational solution. The solution "means finding ways to enliven a dry and dispiriting style of science instruction that leads as many as half of the country's aspiring scientists to quit the field before they leave college."
The three post-war scenarios regarding EU-US relations
