America's Cult of Ignorance Is No Match for Asia's Cult of Intelligence

[homersapien 11,812]

America's Cult of Ignorance Is No Match for Asia's Cult of Intelligence

I have been traveling to East Asia (and many other parts of the world) for more than 25 years and over that time one of the things that has always struck me is how intelligent the general public in countries like Japan appear to be. It's not that there aren't dummies in East Asia, but it always seems that the average level of education and ability to think about the world intelligently and critically is impressively widespread. I've often thought about why this is the case and also why the same seems more difficult to say about the U.S. The answer, I think, can be found in a comment science fiction writer Isaac Asimov made about the U.S. while being interviewed in the 1980s: "There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."

Asimov is right on the mark, and this cult of ignorance is the most serious national security issue facing the U.S. today. It is more important than the external threats from terrorists or the rise of a politically and economically powerful China. And a major part of the reason it is such a major issue for Americans to fix is that our immediate competitors, particularly those in Asia, have managed to create a culture in which rather than a cult of ignorance, a cult of intelligence plays a major role in shaping attitudes about the world and, thus, policies about dealing with other countries.

Many Americans are aware that the U.S. does not score well on measure such as international student assessment tests when compared to other industrial countries. For example, the 2011 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) the top five societies for math were Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan-- the U.S. is not in the top ten. It is better by 8th grade, where the same societies are in the top five (although the order changes) and the U.S. makes number 9. Roughly the same pattern can be seen for science results. This doesn't seem too bad, but in a different testing organization's measure, the Programme for International Student Assessment, the U.S. does not fare quite so well, scoring 36th for math, 28th for science, and 24th for reading. With the exception of science, where Finland is ranked 5th, all of the top five countries in this measure are from East Asia.

American policy has generally worked from the assumption that the problem lies in basic weaknesses in the structure of our educational system with its inherent inequalities and the way in which our school curricula are constructed. These certainly have contributed to comparatively weak scores. I have long been convinced that one of the reasons Japan's educational system is better than the U.S.--at least in the sense that a very broad swath of the general public receives a good and equal education through high school--is related to funding. The U.S. system generates inherent inequalities in school funding by depending upon property taxes. Even in states where there is some (usually grudging) redistribution of wealth to support public schools in poor areas (in Texas it is called the Robin Hood law), it is obvious that children in wealthy areas receive a better education with far greater academic and other resources than those in poorer areas. In Japan, because there is a national curriculum and a significant portion of the funding for public schools comes from the national government, in addition to funding from prefectural and municipal governments, there is considerably less inequality in distribution of and access to quality education than in the U.S.

Unfortunately, the troubles with the U.S. education system are much deeper than distribution of funding or curriculum weaknesses, although these are both a byproduct of the cultural issue that Asimov observes. The troubles lie in the cult of ignorance and anti-intellectualism that has been a long-standing part of American society and which has become increasingly evident and powerful in recent years through the propagandizing and proselytizing of groups like the Tea Party and the religious right.

The fundamental reason that countries in places like East Asia present such a significant challenge to the U.S. politically and economically is not because they have a lot of people or big militaries, or seem to be willing to grow their economic and political might without concern for issues like damage to the environment (China). The problem is that these countries have core cultural values that are more akin to a cult of intelligence and education than a cult of ignorance and anti-intellectualism. In Japan, for example, teachers are held in high esteem and normally viewed as among the most important members of a community. I have never run across the type of suspicion and even disdain for the work of teachers that occurs in the U.S. Teachers in Japan typically are paid significantly more than their peers in the U.S. The profession of teaching is one that is seen as being of central value in Japanese society and those who choose that profession are well compensated in terms of salary, pension, and respect for their knowledge and their efforts on behalf of children.

In addition, we do not see in Japan significant numbers of the types of religious schools that are designed to shield children from knowledge about basic tenets of science and accepted understandings of history--such as evolutionary theory or the religious views of the Founding Fathers, who were largely deists--which are essential to having a fundamental understanding of the world. The reason for this is because in general Japanese value education, value the work of intellectuals, and see a well-educated public with a basic common knowledge in areas of scientific fact, math, history, literature, etc. as being an essential foundation to a successful democracy.

Americans need to recognize that if the cult of ignorance continues, it will become increasingly difficult to compete politically and economically with countries that highly value intelligence and learning. Nowhere is this more problematic in the U.S. than among a growing number of elected officials who are products of that cult of ignorance and who, thus, are not equipped to compete with their international peers. Why is this a problem of national security? Because a population and its leadership need to have the knowledge and intellectual skills necessary to analyze world affairs in an intelligent and sophisticated way and to elect intelligent, capable representatives. The problem is not really with our educational system; it is with our educational culture. Americans need to remember the words of Thomas Jefferson, who wrote to Charles Yancey on January 6, 1816: "if a nation expects to be ignorant & free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was & never will be."

This article also currently appears in The Diplomat.

http://www.huffingto..._b_5505032.html

[IndianTiger 95]

Interesting read...

Also, whats important is that the World is becoming less US centric and in most businesses the center of gravity is shifting towards Asia. (example: Auto Industry). Ignorance might have been OK when decisions were made here in the US, but the future may not be as kind to our kids or generation of young adults, particularly those who refuse to see the global picture and take a bigger interest in understanding it.

[Weegle777 78]

That was interesting. I have long been a proponent of education for all, and for there to be access by all to education. A better educated population is a more prosperous population.

[icanthearyou 4,468]

That was interesting. I have long been a proponent of education for all, and for there to be access by all to education. A better educated population is a more prosperous population.

I believe you just hit the nail on the head and, drove it with one swing.

[cptau 169]

It is not easy to compare the USA with its diverse racial and cultural population that spans a continent to a island country like Japan where over 98% of the population are ethnically Japanese. The author focuses on Japan where minorities are truly small and have little say in the country. The concept of civil rights for minorities as found the USA is not strong in Japan. Tenured college professors in Japan are almost always ethnically Japanese.

Comparing student scores from one country to another country is also suspect. The top students being groomed for college in one country compared to the general student population in another country is often done.

I would agree that there is a "cult of ignorance" in the USA. However that may be for many reasons such as our history of being geographically isolated from the rest of the world by vast oceans, deserts and frozen tundra. That isolation existed into the early 20th century, but the cultural isolation has lasted much longer.

The US was a pioneer society that separated from European ideas about privilege, state religion, royalty class status etc. The notion of a living in a rural agrarian based society with the rights of Englishmen was the American ideal. Jefferson wanted educated farmers to be the norm, but those farmers tended not to care about the city folks here, much less the intellectuals and their ideas in Europe.

We use to (and still do) have mindless gossip tabloids and movie magazines sold in grocery stories. The US news media was providing reals new and analysis. Since the 1970s the news media has changed to providing "entertainment news" which is what use to be in gossip and movie magazines. The media made that change when they need to make real profits for their owners by selling more commercials and ads based on readership and viewers. So they serve up junk along with real news and the general public consumes the junk news. Cable TV, the Internet, and wireless mobile connectivity make it easier to distribute the junk. People don't know what's going on because they can and do choose junk news. Politicians have noted this and now groom their public image and messages to those consumers of junk news.

[homersapien 11,812]

It is not easy to compare the USA with its diverse racial and cultural population that spans a continent to a island country like Japan where over 98% of the population are ethnically Japanese. The author focuses on Japan where minorities are truly small and have little say in the country. The concept of civil rights for minorities as found the USA is not strong in Japan. Tenured college professors in Japan are almost always ethnically Japanese.

Comparing student scores from one country to another country is also suspect. The top students being groomed for college in one country compared to the general student population in another country is often done.

I would agree that there is a "cult of ignorance" in the USA. However that may be for many reasons such as our history of being geographically isolated from the rest of the world by vast oceans, deserts and frozen tundra. That isolation existed into the early 20th century, but the cultural isolation has lasted much longer.

The US was a pioneer society that separated from European ideas about privilege, state religion, royalty class status etc. The notion of a living in a rural agrarian based society with the rights of Englishmen was the American ideal. Jefferson wanted educated farmers to be the norm, but those farmers tended not to care about the city folks here, much less the intellectuals and their ideas in Europe.

We use to (and still do) have mindless gossip tabloids and movie magazines sold in grocery stories. The US news media was providing reals new and analysis. Since the 1970s the news media has changed to providing "entertainment news" which is what use to be in gossip and movie magazines. The media made that change when they need to make real profits for their owners by selling more commercials and ads based on readership and viewers. So they serve up junk along with real news and the general public consumes the junk news. Cable TV, the Internet, and wireless mobile connectivity make it easier to distribute the junk. People don't know what's going on because they can and do choose junk news. Politicians have noted this and now groom their public image and messages to those consumers of junk news.

Good points.

But regarding cultural diversity, there is an interesting - and compelling IMO - counterargument that is a unique strength of the U.S. rather than a weakness.

But I totally agree with your last paragraph. We have allowed a popular culture of entertainment and self-indulgence override intellectualism and self-examination. This has happened in my lifetime.

[cptau 169]

It is not easy to compare the USA with its diverse racial and cultural population that spans a continent to a island country like Japan where over 98% of the population are ethnically Japanese. The author focuses on Japan where minorities are truly small and have little say in the country. The concept of civil rights for minorities as found the USA is not strong in Japan. Tenured college professors in Japan are almost always ethnically Japanese.

Comparing student scores from one country to another country is also suspect. The top students being groomed for college in one country compared to the general student population in another country is often done.

I would agree that there is a "cult of ignorance" in the USA. However that may be for many reasons such as our history of being geographically isolated from the rest of the world by vast oceans, deserts and frozen tundra. That isolation existed into the early 20th century, but the cultural isolation has lasted much longer.

The US was a pioneer society that separated from European ideas about privilege, state religion, royalty class status etc. The notion of a living in a rural agrarian based society with the rights of Englishmen was the American ideal. Jefferson wanted educated farmers to be the norm, but those farmers tended not to care about the city folks here, much less the intellectuals and their ideas in Europe.

We use to (and still do) have mindless gossip tabloids and movie magazines sold in grocery stories. The US news media was providing reals new and analysis. Since the 1970s the news media has changed to providing "entertainment news" which is what use to be in gossip and movie magazines. The media made that change when they need to make real profits for their owners by selling more commercials and ads based on readership and viewers. So they serve up junk along with real news and the general public consumes the junk news. Cable TV, the Internet, and wireless mobile connectivity make it easier to distribute the junk. People don't know what's going on because they can and do choose junk news. Politicians have noted this and now groom their public image and messages to those consumers of junk news.

Good points.

But regarding cultural diversity, there is an interesting - and compelling IMO - counterargument that is a unique strength of the U.S. rather than a weakness.

But I totally agree with your last paragraph. We have allowed a popular culture of entertainment and self-indulgence override intellectualism and self-examination. This has happened in my lifetime.

The US's diversity does allow and promote creativity. The US is good with research, content and creating technology. The Japaneses and Chinese have been very good at mass production. It is very interesting that the Japanese adopted an American idea from Edward Deming. Deming's Total Quality Management process was adopted in the 1950's and transformed Japanese industry. US industry took 30 more years to recognize what Deming was proposing.

Some core ideas from Deming's process:

1. Create constancy of purpose toward improvement of product and service, with the aim to become competitive, to stay in business and to provide jobs.
   
2. Adopt the new philosophy. We are in a new economic age. Western management must awaken to the challenge, must learn their responsibilities, and take on leadership for change.
   
3. Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality. Eliminate the need for massive inspection by building quality into the product in the first place.
   
4. End the practice of awarding business on the basis of a price tag. Instead, minimize total cost. Move towards a single supplier for any one item, on a long-term relationship of loyalty and trust.
   
5. Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service, to improve quality and productivity, and thus constantly decrease costs.
   
6. Institute training on the job.
   
7. Institute leadership. The aim of supervision should be to help people and machines and gadgets do a better job. Supervision of management is in need of overhaul, as well as supervision of production workers.
   
8. Drive out fear, so that everyone may work effectively for the company.
   
9. Break down barriers between departments. People in research, design, sales, and production must work as a team, in order to foresee problems of production and usage that may be encountered with the product or service.
   
10. Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the work force asking for zero defects and new levels of productivity. Such exhortations only create adversarial relationships, as the bulk of the causes of low quality and low productivity belong to the system and thus lie beyond the power of the work force.
    


1. Eliminate work standards (quotas) on the factory floor. Substitute with leadership.
   
2. Eliminate management by objective. Eliminate management by numbers and numerical goals. Instead substitute with leadership.
   

[*]Remove barriers that rob the hourly worker of his right to pride of workmanship. The responsibility of supervisors must be changed from sheer numbers to quality.

[*]Remove barriers that rob people in management and in engineering of their right to pride of workmanship. This means, inter alia, abolishment of the annual or merit rating and of management by objectives .

[*]Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement.

[*]Put everybody in the company to work to accomplish the transformation. The transformation is everybody's job.

[homersapien 11,812]

It is not easy to compare the USA with its diverse racial and cultural population that spans a continent to a island country like Japan where over 98% of the population are ethnically Japanese. The author focuses on Japan where minorities are truly small and have little say in the country. The concept of civil rights for minorities as found the USA is not strong in Japan. Tenured college professors in Japan are almost always ethnically Japanese.

Comparing student scores from one country to another country is also suspect. The top students being groomed for college in one country compared to the general student population in another country is often done.

I would agree that there is a "cult of ignorance" in the USA. However that may be for many reasons such as our history of being geographically isolated from the rest of the world by vast oceans, deserts and frozen tundra. That isolation existed into the early 20th century, but the cultural isolation has lasted much longer.

The US was a pioneer society that separated from European ideas about privilege, state religion, royalty class status etc. The notion of a living in a rural agrarian based society with the rights of Englishmen was the American ideal. Jefferson wanted educated farmers to be the norm, but those farmers tended not to care about the city folks here, much less the intellectuals and their ideas in Europe.

We use to (and still do) have mindless gossip tabloids and movie magazines sold in grocery stories. The US news media was providing reals new and analysis. Since the 1970s the news media has changed to providing "entertainment news" which is what use to be in gossip and movie magazines. The media made that change when they need to make real profits for their owners by selling more commercials and ads based on readership and viewers. So they serve up junk along with real news and the general public consumes the junk news. Cable TV, the Internet, and wireless mobile connectivity make it easier to distribute the junk. People don't know what's going on because they can and do choose junk news. Politicians have noted this and now groom their public image and messages to those consumers of junk news.

Good points.

But regarding cultural diversity, there is an interesting - and compelling IMO - counterargument that is a unique strength of the U.S. rather than a weakness.

But I totally agree with your last paragraph. We have allowed a popular culture of entertainment and self-indulgence override intellectualism and self-examination. This has happened in my lifetime.

The US's diversity does allow and promote creativity. The US is good with research, content and creating technology. The Japaneses and Chinese have been very good at mass production. It is very interesting that the Japanese adopted an American idea from Edward Deming. Deming's Total Quality Management process was adopted in the 1950's and transformed Japanese industry. US industry took 30 more years to recognize what Deming was proposing.

Some core ideas from Deming's process:

1. Create constancy of purpose toward improvement of product and service, with the aim to become competitive, to stay in business and to provide jobs.
   
2. Adopt the new philosophy. We are in a new economic age. Western management must awaken to the challenge, must learn their responsibilities, and take on leadership for change.
   
3. Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality. Eliminate the need for massive inspection by building quality into the product in the first place.
   
4. End the practice of awarding business on the basis of a price tag. Instead, minimize total cost. Move towards a single supplier for any one item, on a long-term relationship of loyalty and trust.
   
5. Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service, to improve quality and productivity, and thus constantly decrease costs.
   
6. Institute training on the job.
   
7. Institute leadership. The aim of supervision should be to help people and machines and gadgets do a better job. Supervision of management is in need of overhaul, as well as supervision of production workers.
   
8. Drive out fear, so that everyone may work effectively for the company.
   
9. Break down barriers between departments. People in research, design, sales, and production must work as a team, in order to foresee problems of production and usage that may be encountered with the product or service.
   
10. Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the work force asking for zero defects and new levels of productivity. Such exhortations only create adversarial relationships, as the bulk of the causes of low quality and low productivity belong to the system and thus lie beyond the power of the work force.
    


1. Eliminate work standards (quotas) on the factory floor. Substitute with leadership.
   
2. Eliminate management by objective. Eliminate management by numbers and numerical goals. Instead substitute with leadership.
   

[*]Remove barriers that rob the hourly worker of his right to pride of workmanship. The responsibility of supervisors must be changed from sheer numbers to quality.

[*]Remove barriers that rob people in management and in engineering of their right to pride of workmanship. This means, inter alia, abolishment of the annual or merit rating and of management by objectives .

[*]Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement.

[*]Put everybody in the company to work to accomplish the transformation. The transformation is everybody's job.

I am very familiar with Deming (and J. Juran) as my wife worked as a ASQCE-certified quality engineer. As you said, Deming couldn't get an audience in this country. I suppose it was because we were selling everything we could make, even if it was junk. The Japanese - who had a reputation for producing cheap goods - totally bought in to his philosophy and made him an icon. The result is history.

[80Tiger 906]

This could be a great article for discussion and the reasons why if the writers could have left the politics out of it. I don't understand why the need to blame the Tea Party and religious right when from what I can tell there is no empirical evidence to support those statements. My questions would be why the change to U.S. standing in these areas of math and science. I would surmise that during the 50's, 60's ,and even into the 70's that the U.S. either led or was near the top in student performance. What changed to cause this cult of ignorance? Funding? Through much of U.S. history school funding was a local or state issue. There was no Department of Education until the Carter administration. Teacher pay? I would argue that teachers make more (including inflationary scale) today than 30, 40 or 50 years ago. Religious schools? Again, through much if our history,religion/God were part of public schools. Supreme Court ruled in 1963 that started prayer being removed from school. So sounds like less religion in school. I would also think that they number of people that attend religious schools is such a small percentage of public schools that it would be hard to skew the results.

I do know that over the past 20 years or so there has been program after program of how to teach math. It seems that emphasis has been placed on areas other than math/science. In fact social programs within schools suck up massive amount of dollars that could normally be utilized in the classroom.

I have to say this though, the last paragraph could be interpreted to mean that only educated people should vote.

[Strychnine 1,804]

It is not easy to compare the USA with its diverse racial and cultural population that spans a continent to a island country like Japan where over 98% of the population are ethnically Japanese. The author focuses on Japan where minorities are truly small and have little say in the country. The concept of civil rights for minorities as found the USA is not strong in Japan. Tenured college professors in Japan are almost always ethnically Japanese.

Comparing student scores from one country to another country is also suspect. The top students being groomed for college in one country compared to the general student population in another country is often done.

I would agree that there is a "cult of ignorance" in the USA. However that may be for many reasons such as our history of being geographically isolated from the rest of the world by vast oceans, deserts and frozen tundra. That isolation existed into the early 20th century, but the cultural isolation has lasted much longer.

The US was a pioneer society that separated from European ideas about privilege, state religion, royalty class status etc. The notion of a living in a rural agrarian based society with the rights of Englishmen was the American ideal. Jefferson wanted educated farmers to be the norm, but those farmers tended not to care about the city folks here, much less the intellectuals and their ideas in Europe.

We use to (and still do) have mindless gossip tabloids and movie magazines sold in grocery stories. The US news media was providing reals new and analysis. Since the 1970s the news media has changed to providing "entertainment news" which is what use to be in gossip and movie magazines. The media made that change when they need to make real profits for their owners by selling more commercials and ads based on readership and viewers. So they serve up junk along with real news and the general public consumes the junk news. Cable TV, the Internet, and wireless mobile connectivity make it easier to distribute the junk. People don't know what's going on because they can and do choose junk news. Politicians have noted this and now groom their public image and messages to those consumers of junk news.

Good points.

But regarding cultural diversity, there is an interesting - and compelling IMO - counterargument that is a unique strength of the U.S. rather than a weakness.

But I totally agree with your last paragraph. We have allowed a popular culture of entertainment and self-indulgence override intellectualism and self-examination. This has happened in my lifetime.

The US's diversity does allow and promote creativity. The US is good with research, content and creating technology. The Japaneses and Chinese have been very good at mass production. It is very interesting that the Japanese adopted an American idea from Edward Deming. Deming's Total Quality Management process was adopted in the 1950's and transformed Japanese industry. US industry took 30 more years to recognize what Deming was proposing.

Some core ideas from Deming's process:

1. Create constancy of purpose toward improvement of product and service, with the aim to become competitive, to stay in business and to provide jobs.
   
2. Adopt the new philosophy. We are in a new economic age. Western management must awaken to the challenge, must learn their responsibilities, and take on leadership for change.
   
3. Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality. Eliminate the need for massive inspection by building quality into the product in the first place.
   
4. End the practice of awarding business on the basis of a price tag. Instead, minimize total cost. Move towards a single supplier for any one item, on a long-term relationship of loyalty and trust.
   
5. Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service, to improve quality and productivity, and thus constantly decrease costs.
   
6. Institute training on the job.
   
7. Institute leadership. The aim of supervision should be to help people and machines and gadgets do a better job. Supervision of management is in need of overhaul, as well as supervision of production workers.
   
8. Drive out fear, so that everyone may work effectively for the company.
   
9. Break down barriers between departments. People in research, design, sales, and production must work as a team, in order to foresee problems of production and usage that may be encountered with the product or service.
   
10. Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the work force asking for zero defects and new levels of productivity. Such exhortations only create adversarial relationships, as the bulk of the causes of low quality and low productivity belong to the system and thus lie beyond the power of the work force.
    


1. Eliminate work standards (quotas) on the factory floor. Substitute with leadership.
   
2. Eliminate management by objective. Eliminate management by numbers and numerical goals. Instead substitute with leadership.
   

[*]Remove barriers that rob the hourly worker of his right to pride of workmanship. The responsibility of supervisors must be changed from sheer numbers to quality.

[*]Remove barriers that rob people in management and in engineering of their right to pride of workmanship. This means, inter alia, abolishment of the annual or merit rating and of management by objectives .

[*]Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement.

[*]Put everybody in the company to work to accomplish the transformation. The transformation is everybody's job.

I am very familiar with Deming (and J. Juran) as my wife worked as a ASQCE-certified quality engineer. As you said, Deming couldn't get an audience in this country. I suppose it was because we were selling everything we could make, even if it was junk. The Japanese - who had a reputation for producing cheap goods - totally bought in to his philosophy and made him an icon. The result is history.

GM is a perfect corporate illustration of this.

[alexava 6,974]

It is not easy to compare the USA with its diverse racial and cultural population that spans a continent to a island country like Japan where over 98% of the population are ethnically Japanese. The author focuses on Japan where minorities are truly small and have little say in the country. The concept of civil rights for minorities as found the USA is not strong in Japan. Tenured college professors in Japan are almost always ethnically Japanese.

Comparing student scores from one country to another country is also suspect. The top students being groomed for college in one country compared to the general student population in another country is often done.

I would agree that there is a "cult of ignorance" in the USA. However that may be for many reasons such as our history of being geographically isolated from the rest of the world by vast oceans, deserts and frozen tundra. That isolation existed into the early 20th century, but the cultural isolation has lasted much longer.

The US was a pioneer society that separated from European ideas about privilege, state religion, royalty class status etc. The notion of a living in a rural agrarian based society with the rights of Englishmen was the American ideal. Jefferson wanted educated farmers to be the norm, but those farmers tended not to care about the city folks here, much less the intellectuals and their ideas in Europe.

We use to (and still do) have mindless gossip tabloids and movie magazines sold in grocery stories. The US news media was providing reals new and analysis. Since the 1970s the news media has changed to providing "entertainment news" which is what use to be in gossip and movie magazines. The media made that change when they need to make real profits for their owners by selling more commercials and ads based on readership and viewers. So they serve up junk along with real news and the general public consumes the junk news. Cable TV, the Internet, and wireless mobile connectivity make it easier to distribute the junk. People don't know what's going on because they can and do choose junk news. Politicians have noted this and now groom their public image and messages to those consumers of junk news.

Good points.

But regarding cultural diversity, there is an interesting - and compelling IMO - counterargument that is a unique strength of the U.S. rather than a weakness.

But I totally agree with your last paragraph. We have allowed a popular culture of entertainment and self-indulgence override intellectualism and self-examination. This has happened in my lifetime.

The US's diversity does allow and promote creativity. The US is good with research, content and creating technology. The Japaneses and Chinese have been very good at mass production. It is very interesting that the Japanese adopted an American idea from Edward Deming. Deming's Total Quality Management process was adopted in the 1950's and transformed Japanese industry. US industry took 30 more years to recognize what Deming was proposing.

Some core ideas from Deming's process:

1. Create constancy of purpose toward improvement of product and service, with the aim to become competitive, to stay in business and to provide jobs.
   
2. Adopt the new philosophy. We are in a new economic age. Western management must awaken to the challenge, must learn their responsibilities, and take on leadership for change.
   
3. Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality. Eliminate the need for massive inspection by building quality into the product in the first place.
   
4. End the practice of awarding business on the basis of a price tag. Instead, minimize total cost. Move towards a single supplier for any one item, on a long-term relationship of loyalty and trust.
   
5. Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service, to improve quality and productivity, and thus constantly decrease costs.
   
6. Institute training on the job.
   
7. Institute leadership. The aim of supervision should be to help people and machines and gadgets do a better job. Supervision of management is in need of overhaul, as well as supervision of production workers.
   
8. Drive out fear, so that everyone may work effectively for the company.
   
9. Break down barriers between departments. People in research, design, sales, and production must work as a team, in order to foresee problems of production and usage that may be encountered with the product or service.
   
10. Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the work force asking for zero defects and new levels of productivity. Such exhortations only create adversarial relationships, as the bulk of the causes of low quality and low productivity belong to the system and thus lie beyond the power of the work force.
    


1. Eliminate work standards (quotas) on the factory floor. Substitute with leadership.
   
2. Eliminate management by objective. Eliminate management by numbers and numerical goals. Instead substitute with leadership.
   

[*]Remove barriers that rob the hourly worker of his right to pride of workmanship. The responsibility of supervisors must be changed from sheer numbers to quality.

[*]Remove barriers that rob people in management and in engineering of their right to pride of workmanship. This means, inter alia, abolishment of the annual or merit rating and of management by objectives .

[*]Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement.

[*]Put everybody in the company to work to accomplish the transformation. The transformation is everybody's job.

I am very familiar with Deming (and J. Juran) as my wife worked as a ASQCE-certified quality engineer. As you said, Deming couldn't get an audience in this country. I suppose it was because we were selling everything we could make, even if it was junk. The Japanese - who had a reputation for producing cheap goods - totally bought in to his philosophy and made him an icon. The result is history.

GM is a perfect corporate illustration of this.

do you mean by the way they shamelessly plagiarize Toyota's production system but claim equal quality. If so I agree GM started way too late or later than it should. Most companies are on the TQM bandwagon now.

[Strychnine 1,804]

No, I mean the way they stubbornly continued to produce cars that were rubbish in comparison to their Japanese competitors from the 80's until shortly before their bankruptcy. They focused on SUV's and trucks for most of the 90's, and produced cars that consisted of a few rubbish sports cars while the rest were rental and corporate fleet specials. In the 21st century, they started losing the SUV and truck market too. Japanese companies refined their offerings to always try to give customers a better version of what they wanted. Hence the ubiquity with which you saw Honda Accords, Toyota Camry's, or Nissan Altimas throughout the last decade, in addition to the rise of the Toyota Tundra and Nissan Titan. Then there is the folly of comparing a Lexus, Acura, or Infiniti to Buick and Cadillac. Regardless of flaws in the production system, their ultimate flaws were in the corporate office and design department.

[homersapien 11,812]

This could be a great article for discussion and the reasons why if the writers could have left the politics out of it. I don't understand why the need to blame the Tea Party and religious right when from what I can tell there is no empirical evidence to support those statements. My questions would be why the change to U.S. standing in these areas of math and science. I would surmise that during the 50's, 60's ,and even into the 70's that the U.S. either led or was near the top in student performance. What changed to cause this cult of ignorance? Funding? Through much of U.S. history school funding was a local or state issue. There was no Department of Education until the Carter administration. Teacher pay? I would argue that teachers make more (including inflationary scale) today than 30, 40 or 50 years ago. Religious schools? Again, through much if our history,religion/God were part of public schools. Supreme Court ruled in 1963 that started prayer being removed from school. So sounds like less religion in school. I would also think that they number of people that attend religious schools is such a small percentage of public schools that it would be hard to skew the results.

I do know that over the past 20 years or so there has been program after program of how to teach math. It seems that emphasis has been placed on areas other than math/science. In fact social programs within schools suck up massive amount of dollars that could normally be utilized in the classroom.

I have to say this though, the last paragraph could be interpreted to mean that only educated people should vote.

"Social" programs? What are you talking about - music? art? history?

[homersapien 11,812]

This could be a great article for discussion and the reasons why if the writers could have left the politics out of it. I don't understand why the need to blame the Tea Party and religious right when from what I can tell there is no empirical evidence to support those statements. My questions would be why the change to U.S. standing in these areas of math and science. I would surmise that during the 50's, 60's ,and even into the 70's that the U.S. either led or was near the top in student performance. What changed to cause this cult of ignorance? Funding? Through much of U.S. history school funding was a local or state issue. There was no Department of Education until the Carter administration. Teacher pay? I would argue that teachers make more (including inflationary scale) today than 30, 40 or 50 years ago. Religious schools? Again, through much if our history,religion/God were part of public schools. Supreme Court ruled in 1963 that started prayer being removed from school. So sounds like less religion in school. I would also think that they number of people that attend religious schools is such a small percentage of public schools that it would be hard to skew the results.

I do know that over the past 20 years or so there has been program after program of how to teach math. It seems that emphasis has been placed on areas other than math/science. In fact social programs within schools suck up massive amount of dollars that could normally be utilized in the classroom.

I have to say this though, the last paragraph could be interpreted to mean that only educated people should vote.

I don't get that interpretation at all. Care to elucidate?

[AURaptor 1,137]

" anti-intellectualism " = anything that opposes the centralized state, top down mindset.

aka FREEDOM.

Yep.

[homersapien 11,812]

" anti-intellectualism " = anything that opposes the centralized state, top down mindset.

aka FREEDOM.

Yep.

Now that's ironic enough to end the thread.

[autigeremt 6,970]

One of the best threads and article driven posts homer has ever had! Very thought provoking and multidimensional.

Great posts and thoughtful responses (until the end....).

I'd add that education comes in many forms for many people and in my opinion equal time and effort should be spent on the promotion of technical and skills trade education as there is with advanced education to promote upper tier management and innovation. In other words....the kid who decides to go to trade school should get the same enthusiastic support from guidance counselors and family as their 4 year counterparts. We need a healthy, tiered employment pool that rewards hard work both in and out of a classroom/office building.

[homersapien 11,812]

One of the best threads and article driven posts homer has ever had! Very thought provoking and multidimensional.

Great posts and thoughtful responses (until the end....).

I'd add that education comes in many forms for many people and in my opinion equal time and effort should be spent on the promotion of technical and skills trade education as there is with advanced education to promote upper tier management and innovation. In other words....the kid who decides to go to trade school should get the same enthusiastic support from guidance counselors and family as their 4 year counterparts. We need a healthy, tiered employment pool that rewards hard work both in and out of a classroom/office building.

Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker traveled to Germany to observe how employers there are incorporating these training programs wholesale and how these efforts can be adopted by U.S. companies. She toured BMW’s training facilities at their headquarters in Munich, Germany with CEO Dr. Norbert Reithofer and Head of Apprentice Training Jan Eggert.

Secretary Pritzker went to BMW to learn more about how the company implements the German Dual System of Vocational training, through which students receive a technical degree at a local educational institution while simultaneously participating in on-the-job training. BMW has a unique apprenticeship program, which is currently training 4,500 apprentices worldwide with the skills the company anticipates it will need from future employees. BMW has spent 1.2 billion euros on professional development since 2007.

While the majority of BMW apprentices are located in Germany, the company is expanding its program internationally, including at their Spartanburg, South Carolina plant. BMW employs more than 7,000 workers in South Carolina, and it has 70 apprentices at the facility who they are training for BMW careers. The apprenticeship program in Spartanburg has been in place since 2011 and works with three local technical colleges.

Secretary Pritzker has made skills development a top priority of the Commerce Department for the first time and is encouraging businesses to partner with local education institutions on programs that train high-quality workers for in-demand jobs. She will work closely with her counterparts, Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, on developing workforce training initiatives under programs such as BMW’s model.

http://hr.blr.com/HR...apprenticeship#

Also see:

http://www.pbs.org/n...-4-year-degree/

http://www.pbs.org/n...-opportunities/

[autigeremt 6,970]

I'm very familiar with that program as my cousin works at BMW-Spartanburg (technically Greer). He went through the program with Greenville Technical College and it has paid off big time for him.

[homersapien 11,812]

I'm very familiar with that program as my cousin works at BMW-Spartanburg (technically Greer). He went through the program with Greenville Technical College and it has paid off big time for him.

Greenville Tech has been a huge benefit to this area.

[autigeremt 6,970]

I'm very familiar with that program as my cousin works at BMW-Spartanburg (technically Greer). He went through the program with Greenville Technical College and it has paid off big time for him.

Greenville Tech has been a huge benefit to this area.

Sure has. My bride is a graduate of their nursing program and I got my medic through GT.

[icanthearyou 4,468]

It is not easy to compare the USA with its diverse racial and cultural population that spans a continent to a island country like Japan where over 98% of the population are ethnically Japanese. The author focuses on Japan where minorities are truly small and have little say in the country. The concept of civil rights for minorities as found the USA is not strong in Japan. Tenured college professors in Japan are almost always ethnically Japanese.

Comparing student scores from one country to another country is also suspect. The top students being groomed for college in one country compared to the general student population in another country is often done.

I would agree that there is a "cult of ignorance" in the USA. However that may be for many reasons such as our history of being geographically isolated from the rest of the world by vast oceans, deserts and frozen tundra. That isolation existed into the early 20th century, but the cultural isolation has lasted much longer.

The US was a pioneer society that separated from European ideas about privilege, state religion, royalty class status etc. The notion of a living in a rural agrarian based society with the rights of Englishmen was the American ideal. Jefferson wanted educated farmers to be the norm, but those farmers tended not to care about the city folks here, much less the intellectuals and their ideas in Europe.

We use to (and still do) have mindless gossip tabloids and movie magazines sold in grocery stories. The US news media was providing reals new and analysis. Since the 1970s the news media has changed to providing "entertainment news" which is what use to be in gossip and movie magazines. The media made that change when they need to make real profits for their owners by selling more commercials and ads based on readership and viewers. So they serve up junk along with real news and the general public consumes the junk news. Cable TV, the Internet, and wireless mobile connectivity make it easier to distribute the junk. People don't know what's going on because they can and do choose junk news. Politicians have noted this and now groom their public image and messages to those consumers of junk news.

Good points.

But regarding cultural diversity, there is an interesting - and compelling IMO - counterargument that is a unique strength of the U.S. rather than a weakness.

But I totally agree with your last paragraph. We have allowed a popular culture of entertainment and self-indulgence override intellectualism and self-examination. This has happened in my lifetime.

The US's diversity does allow and promote creativity. The US is good with research, content and creating technology. The Japaneses and Chinese have been very good at mass production. It is very interesting that the Japanese adopted an American idea from Edward Deming. Deming's Total Quality Management process was adopted in the 1950's and transformed Japanese industry. US industry took 30 more years to recognize what Deming was proposing.

Some core ideas from Deming's process:

1. Create constancy of purpose toward improvement of product and service, with the aim to become competitive, to stay in business and to provide jobs.
   
2. Adopt the new philosophy. We are in a new economic age. Western management must awaken to the challenge, must learn their responsibilities, and take on leadership for change.
   
3. Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality. Eliminate the need for massive inspection by building quality into the product in the first place.
   
4. End the practice of awarding business on the basis of a price tag. Instead, minimize total cost. Move towards a single supplier for any one item, on a long-term relationship of loyalty and trust.
   
5. Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service, to improve quality and productivity, and thus constantly decrease costs.
   
6. Institute training on the job.
   
7. Institute leadership. The aim of supervision should be to help people and machines and gadgets do a better job. Supervision of management is in need of overhaul, as well as supervision of production workers.
   
8. Drive out fear, so that everyone may work effectively for the company.
   
9. Break down barriers between departments. People in research, design, sales, and production must work as a team, in order to foresee problems of production and usage that may be encountered with the product or service.
   
10. Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the work force asking for zero defects and new levels of productivity. Such exhortations only create adversarial relationships, as the bulk of the causes of low quality and low productivity belong to the system and thus lie beyond the power of the work force.
    


1. Eliminate work standards (quotas) on the factory floor. Substitute with leadership.
   
2. Eliminate management by objective. Eliminate management by numbers and numerical goals. Instead substitute with leadership.
   

[*]Remove barriers that rob the hourly worker of his right to pride of workmanship. The responsibility of supervisors must be changed from sheer numbers to quality.

[*]Remove barriers that rob people in management and in engineering of their right to pride of workmanship. This means, inter alia, abolishment of the annual or merit rating and of management by objectives .

[*]Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement.

[*]Put everybody in the company to work to accomplish the transformation. The transformation is everybody's job.

I am very familiar with Deming (and J. Juran) as my wife worked as a ASQCE-certified quality engineer. As you said, Deming couldn't get an audience in this country. I suppose it was because we were selling everything we could make, even if it was junk. The Japanese - who had a reputation for producing cheap goods - totally bought in to his philosophy and made him an icon. The result is history.

I have often thought about Deming and Baldridge in particular and, wondered if their ideas were revolutionary or, they identified practices and processes that were being used by the most successful enterprises of the 50's and 60's. Did we walk away from those ideas and ideals in favor of greed and a shorter term view of return on capital investment? Have the Japanese done the same thing? Was our success in the 50's and 60's based on the same ideas that produced success for Japan in the 70's and 80's? Can we be successful manufacturers, in the global economy, if we employ those same principles today? Is Germany?

[Weegle777 78]

I would much rather bear the brunt of funding education so that,in the long run, more and more people are investing in the system, than just pay lazy people, and baby factories to sit on their butts.

[Texan4Auburn 1,626]

I have a complaint that I think fits into this thread since it involves the education of math and sciences in the United States versus Asia. It is one that I have heard many times and my understanding it is a quite common complaint across many universities in our country.

That complaint is that at the collegiate level at least, and I found this to be true at Auburn, that instructors and teaching assistants (those running labs) have a tendency to be from foreign countries. Many of them are Asian and many of them are not very good at teaching in the English language. I myself had a physics lab instructor that could not explain a problem to me cause under his own admittance he could not translate how he wanted to answer my question into English. Thus he referred me to the book, which was not sufficient for me.

I've found it interesting that we discuss our countries weakness in mathematics/sciences versus the world and how academically we wish to strengthen these subjects. Yet we hinder, or totally turn off, intelligent individuals that are capable of learning (and even excelling at) these subjects with proper instruction by introducing a language barrier in our classrooms. At least at the college level. I know many individuals that changed their major because they simple got tired of trying to learn how to understand and communicate with the instructors/lab techs as well as attempting to learn the material.

[homersapien 11,812]

I have a complaint that I think fits into this thread since it involves the education of math and sciences in the United States versus Asia. It is one that I have heard many times and my understanding it is a quite common complaint across many universities in our country.

That complaint is that at the collegiate level at least, and I found this to be true at Auburn, that instructors and teaching assistants (those running labs) have a tendency to be from foreign countries. Many of them are Asian and many of them are not very good at teaching in the English language. I myself had a physics lab instructor that could not explain a problem to me cause under his own admittance he could not translate how he wanted to answer my question into English. Thus he referred me to the book, which was not sufficient for me.

I've found it interesting that we discuss our countries weakness in mathematics/sciences versus the world and how academically we wish to strengthen these subjects. Yet we hinder, or totally turn off, intelligent individuals that are capable of learning (and even excelling at) these subjects with proper instruction by introducing a language barrier in our classrooms. At least at the college level. I know many individuals that changed their major because they simple got tired of trying to learn how to understand and communicate with the instructors/lab techs as well as attempting to learn the material.

LOL! Don't know what year you are referring to, but that was a problem in the early 70's.

But I would characterize that as more of a symptom than a cause.