We note this week that there is a new robotic rover on the surface of the Moon, and it is from China. There was an apparently successful orbit of a living being and safe return, conducted by Iran. At least some of the space activity these days is due in part to the U.S. outsourcing its own technology, and others quickly adapting it. That technological and intellectual capital is being spent, and may not be renewed.
May not if trends in U.S. education continue. There have been scary headlines and warnings for years, so what's new about the latest? For one thing, the U.S. had fallen behind in average math achievement, but our best were still among the best. No more. Our best students languish "in the middle of the pack" internationally. They can't keep up.
Add this to other downward trends, if not spirals: infant mortality, longevity, and above all, the enormous gulf between rich and everybody else--very likely the source of much of the rest, along with the retrenchment of governmental resources. With even the modest advance in healthcare coverage in the Affordable Care Act under intense political fire, our healthcare system remains near the bottom of the industrialized world. Instead the U.S. leads the world in gun violence and captial punishment--with no fear of relinquishing that dominance.
Despite this country's residual strengths and the advances in less quantifiable qualities, this all has the distinct aroma of decadence. America is exceptional in its self-satisfied paralysis, its furious conflicts that stalemate action or even enough of a common diagnosis to proceed.
From the New York Times editorial on Sunday:
In a post-smokestack age, there is only one way for the United States to avoid a declining standard of living, and that is through innovation. Advancements in science and engineering have extended life, employed millions and accounted for more than half of American economic growth since World War II, but they are slowing. The nation has to enlarge its pool of the best and brightest science and math students and encourage them to pursue careers that will keep the country competitive.
But that isn’t happening. Not only do average American students perform poorly compared with those in other countries, but so do the best students, languishing in the middle of the pack as measured by the two leading tests used in international comparisons....
On the 2012 Program for International Student Assessment test, the most recent, 34 of 65 countries and school systems had a higher percentage of 15-year-olds scoring at the advanced levels in mathematics than the United States did. The Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland all had at least twice the proportion of mathematically advanced students as the United States, and many Asian countries had far more than that.
Other tests have shown that America’s younger students fare better in global comparisons than its older students do, which suggests a disturbing failure of educators to nurture good students as they progress to higher grades. Over all, the United States is largely holding still while foreign competitors are improving rapidly."
Meanwhile, the Chinese are talking softly about their rover on the Moon (the peaceful exploration of space) which they are conducting methodically, with plenty of resources committed to it. But their longer range plans may be more complex. This BBC story says they are looking at future potential for the Moon's minerals. This is not really a new or necessarily sinister idea, unless the fact that the Bush administration expressed interest in the same thing tilts the balance for you. But it shows that while these days the only Americans thinking that far ahead are science fiction writers, the Chinese aren't just wondering, they're exploring.
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