http://www.marketwatch.com/story/imf-bombshell-age-of-america-about-to-end-2011-04-25?link=home_carousel

^^^
One of the direct results of allowing our growing class stratification and stagnation of our economy because of it.

whereas thrax would quote the same article and claim its the result of an unlimited debt ceiling and handouts.

my naive idea is that the reason america is going down is similar to a dynastic cycle. no one works as hard as we used to (compare this generation to the one that came out of the great depression or went through ww2). i think our sense of entitlement is at an alltime high. we assume we deserve the best/most, but that we should only put in minimal effort if any at all.

i think the entire schooling system is failing in this sense too. instead of actually wanting to educate people and teach them that they have to work hard to get rewarded, the system is more focused on grade inflation.

Thraxle, the myth that the poor don't work hard is a fallacy. A lot of poor people work a lot more than their richer counterparts. Read this article that I had to read for my Teach for America interview:

http://www.filehosting.org/file/details/222880/The_Myth_of_the_Culture_of.Poverty.pdf
(email: [email protected] , to see this material)

It usually comes down to the education/teachers these lower class students get. Because of this lack of education(I mean a kid can do better staying at home watching TV in the DC area than going to a school where the average student is 3 years behind).

Honestly, we need to really educate the mass to have what you want:

"Thraxle's America", which fine by me if education was truly great for all.

Unfortunately this isn't the case, which allow people to make fucktarded(thanks for this word Sam) decisions, which is why we need to provide better education to the mass(like Planned Parenthood, which is essential your 10th grade sex ed course, which a lot of students don't get cause of cuts).

no offense chase. it sounds like you actually care about your kids and that they learn, not just getting them to pass tests.

Very true monte, but its not hardwork thats needed; we work more than I parents do, and for less(taking into account inflation) than our parents do.

Its the lack of education. $QED$

This isn't chase foo, this is vash.

QED

yes, thats why i said no offense CHASE, because i know he reads these threads ;P

I think the article I linked talks some about that monte. The profit makers don't really give a fuck because their money is secure for the most part and their families are provided for long term. Well I don't subscribe to Ayn Rand, her observations about the failures of crony capitalism and its failures are spot on.

I'm of the belief that a kid is going to learn if their parents put the time in to make sure they learn. Now, if you want to argue about how "No Child Left Behind" is ruining are educational system I'll be happy to argue that point, but the truth is that education starts at home. I don't argue that "SOME" poor people don't work hard, but I would argue that those same people who bust ass working don't spend the same amount of time doing homework with their 10 year old. Thus the 10 year old is fucking off in school and will eventually have to bust his/her ass at $15.00/HR because they didn't get an education. An endless cycle in my opinion which most liberals blame on society and not the individuals within that society.

My kids are going to go to some of the best public schools are region have to offer, but that doesn't mean shit if I don't stay on their asses at home and make sure they walk a straight line.

*our region has