America the Beautiful: Rediscovering What Made This Nation Great (8 page)

In the mid — twentieth century, however, a series of things began to happen that negatively impacted the quality of public education in the US. Public prayer was banned in school, and the educational agenda began to expand significantly beyond basic reading, writing, and arithmetic. By the
early 1990s, a multinational study to determine the ability of eighth-grade equivalents in twenty-two different countries to solve complex math and science problems found that students in the United States ranked number twenty-one out of twenty-two. That the pinnacle nation in the world would have such a poor academic showing is not only embarrassing but extremely frightening.

When we instill morals and values into the educational process for young people, however, we help them realize they have an obligation to become well educated and informed citizens, and to contribute to the system as opposed to draining it of its resources. Public prayer and discussion of common principles that strengthen society’s moral fabric are essential to establishing an atmosphere of courtesy and decency. The renowned Noah Webster said, “Society requires that the education of youth should be watched with the most scrupulous attention. Education, in a great measure, forms the moral characters of men, and morals are the basis of government.”
⁷

Today in the age of information and technology, “knowledge is power” more than ever before in the history of the world. Certainly during the Agricultural Age, the United States was able to produce so much corn, wheat, and barley that we became known as the breadbasket of the world. But we are no longer in the Agricultural Age. The Industrial Age followed, during which the United States blossomed into a giant that could produce more cars, airplanes, washing machines, and weapons than anyone thought possible — changing the course of the world for the better. But we are no longer in the Industrial Age. We now find ourselves in the Information Age, where academic accomplishment is more important than ever.

Today we produce only 60,000 to 70,000 engineers per year, 40 percent of whom are foreigners, while China produces over 400,000 engineers per year. With this kind of technological discrepancy, we will be left far behind in the not too distant future unless we begin to address our educational shortcomings with more than political rhetoric. China is not a democracy, and its emergence as a rising superpower will radically change the geopolitical landscape of the world.

Even if young people are not concerned about their role in world affairs, they should clearly be concerned about their own future economic well-being. Everyone should realize that today the average person lives to be about eighty years of age, the first twenty to twenty-five of which are used to either prepare oneself educationally — or not. For those who prepare well, about sixty years shall follow to reap the benefits; but for those who fail to prepare, there are sixty years to suffer the consequences. When you look at it
that way, sacrificing a bit of fun and idleness early on can pay big dividends in the long run. Furthermore, as of 1999, a US Census Bureau report entitled “The Big Payoff: Educational Attainment and Synthetic Estimates of Work-Life Earnings” revealed that over an adult’s working life (ages twenty-five through sixty-four), a high school graduate can expect to earn an average of $1.2 million. A college graduate will earn $2.1 million, while someone with a master’s degree will earn $2.5 million. A person with a doctoral degree will earn $3.4 million, and those with professional degrees — such as medical, dental, or veterinary degrees — will earn $4.4 million on average. Obviously there has been some relative advance on those numbers since 1999, further underscoring the point.

Some readers may be thinking,
I have worked hard and achieved a lot in my personal life
,
so why should I worry myself about the well-being of people who are too lazy to take advantage of opportunities to succeed?
However, for every one of those young people we can keep from choosing a self-destructive path, that’s one less person we have to be afraid of or protect our families from, one less person we will have to pay for in the penal system or the welfare system, and one more productive, taxpaying member of society who may discover a new energy source or the cure for cancer. Every person is endowed with God-given abilities, and we must cultivate every ounce of talent we have in order to maintain our pinnacle position in the world.

Our nation’s founding fathers certainly believed in the task of educating the populace as foundational to a nation’s health. In a letter to George Chapman on December 15, 1784, George Washington wrote, “The best means of forming a manly, virtuous, and happy people will be found in the right education of youth. Without this foundation, every other means, in my opinion, must fail.” James Madison added, “A popular government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy; or, perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: and a people who mean to be their own governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.”
⁸

These statements by some of our founding fathers emphasize how essential a solid general education is to all the constituents of American society. By remaining ignorant, we shirk our democratic duty and open ourselves to slick politicians who would usurp our rights. Some of the segments of our society who are most easily led astray are those with the poorest general education, which makes one wonder if those seeking political advantage are
happy to maintain the status quo in order that the uneducated might be more easily manipulated.

The founders also believed that education is crucial to offering checks and balances to governing leaders’ power. Otherwise, the insidious loss of freedom, quite relevant to us today, will follow. For “enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm,”
⁹
James Madison noted in
The Federalist Papers
. He also pointed out in a speech to the Virginia ratifying convention on June 16, 1788, that “there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.”

We can certainly see a gradual erosion of hard-won rights everywhere around us today. For instance, a recent regulation imposed by the Department of Veterans Affairs banned the words
God
and
Jesus
during funeral services at the Houston National Cemetery. This obvious violation of the Constitution is being challenged legally by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, and the National Memorial Ladies, who fortunately are educated enough to know their rights and are brave enough to fight for them.

I’m sure our nation’s founders hoped and prayed that we would not stray from the freedom they fought and died to provide. Reading about their vision for a unique nation inhabited by people with unprecedented freedom is truly inspiring, and we must be careful not to allow those who like to rewrite history to silence the voices of those God-fearing visionaries who founded America. We have a very rich history of placing tremendous value on education, and there is no reason that we cannot once again become the world’s most educated nation.

We have a tremendous amount of technology available to us that can help us quickly close the achievement gap that exists between our children and those in many other advanced nations. One such technology currently being developed is a computer program that analyzes the way a student solves math problems to figure out where there are gaps in that student’s knowledge. The computer then tutors the student in his or her area of deficiency until the student is able to solve problems correctly. This is, of course, the same thing that a good teacher can do, but computers provide the ability to tutor a whole classroom simultaneously as opposed to one student at a time, allowing the teacher freedom to focus energy on students needing personal attention. We also should put a great deal of emphasis on the concept of virtual classrooms. Although the technology is only in its infancy, it will provide the ability to put the very best teachers in the world in front of
millions of our children on the same day. It will allow children to virtually explore the pyramids of Egypt, or the Amazon Basin, or even the surface of the moon. This kind of education should also be available to parents and other adults who want to know what their children are learning and desire to increase their own value, because knowledge is power. Not only
can
we do this, but we
must
do this in order to remain a potent worldwide leader in this age of information.

E
VERYONE HATES SOMETHING.
Some hate spiders; others hate lizards or snakes, but I hated poverty. Growing up near the Delray and River Rouge neighborhoods of inner-city Detroit, and the Roxbury section of Boston gave me an up-close and personal view of poverty. I hated being poor, and I was eager to find a way out.

Living in run-down housing joined at common walls meant we could hear our neighbors on both sides of us, so sleep came only when voices settled down, if they did at all. On some nights, especially weekends, parties extended far into the morning hours. Break-ins and burglaries were common in the neighborhood, so we fortified our home with locks, bars, alarms, and a dog, which we particularly needed when my father left Mom and us two boys when I was eight. Living in that neighborhood, we felt unprotected, vulnerable at night, and alone.

The neighborhood housing projects I walked through when I began attending school in Boston were in even worse shape than ours. Some of the houses were abandoned, some were burned, and others were literally falling down altogether. But worse than the structural decay was the angry, aggressive attitude spawned by the conditions of poverty around us. No one seemed to care about the next guy, except to shake him down for money or maybe drugs. My brother, Curtis, and I were frequently bullied, and with Dad gone, Mom had to work multiple jobs just to provide. She never failed to put food on the table, however, and believed fervently that God would keep us going. I marveled at her faith, but I also wished she didn’t have to work so hard. I wished better for her and for all of us.

I hated wearing secondhand clothing and loathed going to the store to buy groceries with food stamps. If I was at the counter and someone I knew was nearby, I would get out of line as if I had forgotten something, hoping that by the time I got back to the counter no one I knew would see me paying with food stamps. In hindsight, I see this was false pride and ignorance, since many of my peers probably used the stamps too, but hatred of poverty put enough fire in me to make me work hard to escape it.

Poverty bred the attitude in me that I was a nobody, that I was going nowhere, and that I probably would never get out. So I quit school mentally before I even started. I still walked the distance from our house to the school building; Mom made sure of that. But I was lazy. I was at the bottom of my class. And most of the kids in school loved to call me by the pet name “Dummy.”

That’s when I really began to see how my feelings about poverty could affect my attitude. I developed a violent, uncontrollable temper and my grades plummeted. When Mom found out I was failing the fifth grade and that my brother, Curtis, wasn’t doing any better, she immediately instituted a program of little or no TV. We were told to focus on our homework, read books, and do book reports for her every week. Mom wanted out of the poverty too, and she knew that if we applied ourselves, we could climb out, something she had been unable to do herself. She couldn’t read the reports we wrote, but we never knew that, and the hard work paid off.

From all I observed around me growing up and all I read, I quickly realized that, in spite of the circumstances affecting you, the person who had the most to do with what happened to you in life was you. If I wanted to escape poverty, I was going to have to work extremely hard, but this was within my grasp to accomplish. And in a place such as America, no one could stop me except myself.

I nearly had stopped myself through my belief that I would never amount to anything. But instead of choosing to fuel my anger further, I turned to books as a way out. As I read about explorers, entrepreneurs, industrial leaders, and inventors, I saw a common thread in their lives of the desire and ability to work hard in order to accomplish something. I was particularly inspired by the story of Booker T. Washington, who was born a slave. It was illegal for him to read, yet he taught himself and read everything in sight. Because of that commitment to continually better his life, he eventually became an advisor to two presidents.

The story of Joseph in the Bible’s Old Testament impressed me even more. Sold into slavery by his own brothers, he didn’t hold a pity party for
himself. Instead he decided that if he was going to be a slave, he would be the best slave around. Because of his industriousness and dependability, he went on to become the head of the household of Potiphar, who was captain of the Egyptian guard. Even though Joseph was unjustly imprisoned for a second time because of Potiphar’s wife’s false accusation — something that might have derailed even the most determined person, pushing him toward a victim mentality — Joseph did not feel sorry for himself. Instead he put to work those same characteristics in the prison that had enabled him to achieve a high position in Potiphar’s household. He soon had a very responsible position, and showing a skill in interpreting others’ dreams, gained the attention of the pharaoh. Ultimately he became the governor of all of Egypt.

Reading about individuals such as these profoundly affected my work ethic and made me realize that I could easily change my destiny with determined personal effort. I did not have to depend on what someone else did or what someone else gave me in order to be successful. The only thing I really needed was the opportunity to work hard and display my talents. As long as there was no one there trying to stop me or confiscate the benefits of my labor, I was willing to enthusiastically pursue my goals.

The United States of America is the most prolific example of capitalism in the history of the world. But what exactly is capitalism? You can find many different definitions, but they all point to the fact that capitalism is an economic system in which individuals or corporate groups have the right to make private decisions and to acquire private property and capital goods based on their own work and competition in a free market. In recent years, there has been a lot of debate about whether a capitalist or socialist government would best suit the people of our nation. People are social creatures who prefer to work together, play together, eat together, and share together — but do the basic tenets of capitalism preclude these natural tendencies?

Many opponents of capitalism say that the capitalist system fosters greed and selfishness and does not look out for the welfare of one’s fellow man. If that were true, however, then the United States would have quickly dissolved into a hopelessly failed state instead of becoming the wealthiest and most powerful nation that the world has ever known.

You may be surprised to learn that it was the rapid rise of the United States as an economic power in the world that gave birth to the ideals of socialism. Many individuals in Europe and in other parts of the world were
quite alarmed by the fact that relatively few people in America were making enormous sums of money while the great masses lived in poverty. They felt that it was quite unfair to have families such as the Vanderbilts, the Rockefellers, the Carnegies, the Mellons, the Kelloggs, and the Fords living lavishly, while the people around them suffered. Critics did acknowledge that these capitalists developed technologies that led to the creation of enormous wealth, but they felt that the level of wealth should be more fairly controlled and distributed by an overarching governmental agency. What those critics perhaps failed to understand is how much money each of the aforementioned families plowed back into the development of infrastructure and industries for our nation, creating an enormous number of jobs and opportunities for others to develop wealth.

Not only did America very quickly become a great economic and industrial power, but it also gave birth to the largest and most productive middle class the world had ever seen. In order for many of the businesses to succeed, it was necessary to produce in very large quantities, which of course required a great number of workers who had to be paid. Some companies were very fair to their workers and tended to do quite well; others had to be forced to be fair by unions, while still others were blatantly unfair and, in the long run, frequently suffered the consequences of such actions. Another phenomenon occurred in America which was unfamiliar to the Europeans — namely the advent of numerous charitable foundations created to aid the poor and to provide opportunities for the general populace. Obviously there was something different about the wealthy in America that distinguished them from the wealthy people in other parts of the world.

No matter how much of a fan of socialism or communism one is, it is difficult to deny the fact that entrepreneurship and inventive genius in America had a very profound effect on civilizations and living conditions throughout the world in a very short period of time. America had created an environment that provided incentive for people to come up with more and better ways of doing things. Jan Matzeliger, for example, was an African American who invented the shoe-lasting machine, revolutionizing the shoe industry and making shoes affordable by the masses with his 1883 patent.
¹

The establishment and protection of individual rights, woven into the founding values of our nation, extended into our business practices. The knowledge that you could acquire things for yourself and for your family by your own hard work and that those things would not be confiscated by another party was a powerful stimulus to economic activity, which quickly propelled America to the pinnacle of economic power in the world.

People throughout the world came to envy the American standard of living, and this country became the dream destination for poor immigrants everywhere.

If the story ended there, the capitalist economic model would be declared the winner and we would all live happily ever after. Unfortunately, one of the tendencies of human nature, namely greed, often results in excessive profit taking at the expense of others.

Many years ago, a friend of mine received an academic scholarship to obtain his engineering degree at the City College of New York; however, the scholarship did not include room and board. So he was forced to live on the streets for a while, though he still maintained a healthy grade point average. For several months, he would even sneak into the professor’s lounge in the evening and hide behind one of the couches until the room was locked at night. There he would sleep behind the couch and then sneak out in the morning once the lounge was unlocked. Having access to water and a bathroom helped, but he was even more delighted when snacks were left in the lounge.

After he finished his engineering degree, he went to work for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Once while traveling, as the plane was landing, he noticed that the lady sitting next to him was extremely frightened by the plane’s unstable descent. My friend is a very smart and creative young man, and he consequently designed a stabilization system for aircraft landing. For this magnificent invention with wide applications, he was given a $500 bonus by the FAA. Feeling that his talents were unappreciated and certainly not properly compensated, he decided to seek an engineering job in the private sector. On hearing about his experience with the FAA, his new employer assured him that if he came up with another great invention he would receive 20 percent of the profits.

Well, the young man did come up with another fabulous invention — one, in fact, that resulted in a $300 million profit for the company. To celebrate their success, the company held a ceremony, during which they were going to recognize my friend for his contribution. He invited his parents and many of his friends to be present when he would receive his check for $60 million. During the ceremony, the CEO of the company called him to the stage and presented him with a plaque and a glazed ham. The next day, the young man confronted the CEO in his office and asked about the $60 million. The CEO replied that it had been decided that they would invest that
$60 million in the further development of the company and that it would all be made right with him in the long run. My inventor friend tendered his resignation immediately and started to walk away when the CEO stopped him, walked over to his desk, and wrote a check for $75,000, which he handed to him. My friend tore up the check, threw it in the CEO’s face, and walked out with the intention of starting his own company.

He quickly came to realize that his goal required significant capital, and that as a twenty-two-year-old black man with a bunch of ideas and very little collateral he was going to have a very difficult time realizing his dream. He went to ten different banks seeking a business loan and he was shut out on every occasion; however, he was offered an opportunity at each bank to receive a credit card with a $20,000 limit. He accepted all ten of the credit cards and used the credit of $200,000 to start his own engineering firm. As his inventive genius was given the opportunity it needed to succeed, his company grew and prospered, and he ultimately sold it for a nine-figure amount when he retired at age forty, which was his dream. Even though he is now extremely wealthy, he continues to work and engage in charitable endeavors to advance science and engineering education in America.

My friend’s story of being taken advantage of is only one example of how greed can manifest itself within the capitalist system. Unfortunately, however, greed is a significant drawback for
any
economic model, including communism and socialism. No one can justify ascribing a flaw in human character to one economic model or another, for greed is a human weakness seen in all societies.

In the Bible, God instituted a system of tithing, which meant giving 10 percent of one’s profits back to God. Since God is all powerful and owns everything, he certainly does not need any percentage of our profits. So why did he institute tithing? Could it be that he understood that all human beings are subject to greed and that by requiring them to give away 10 percent of their profits they might learn a valuable lesson about not hoarding and about voluntarily sharing with others?