HOME | POLITICS | SPORTS | LIFE | SCI/TECH | OPEDS | HELPFUL TIPS
|
Jan. 12, 2006 What continent would you go to for the treatment of your child, who was found to have terrible medical problem like heart disease? South America? Africa? The Middle East? China? Sure it's expensive here for medical treatment, but there are very long waiting lists in Canada and England, and the best quality and fastest treatment for difficult diseases in usually right here in the U.S. Plenty of people in other countries and cultures are calling Americans things like "The great satan," and claiming we're just a bunch of international bullies. Sure, we're imperfect --- we're just human beings. But let's consider a few important questions of comparison. Where would you go to get the latest medicinal drugs for a scary disease? Sure there are some good drug companies in Switzerland and elsewhere, but the vast majority of new medicines are invented, tested, and sold right here. Where would you go to get the most powerful military weapons, or go to get help from the strongest military force? Sure the Chinese army is probably bigger, but they lost about million men in Korea, to our 50,000. It was political pressure at home that made us accept a draw in 1953. Similarly in Vietnam, the death ratio of them versus us was almost as lopsided as in Korea, and political pressure from a basically peaceful homeland made us quit. Sure the AK-47 is a great gun, but it can't compare to laser guided bombs and our other fantastic, science-fiction-like weapons. And our young men are still volunteering for the Marines and National Guard, in spite of news media undercutting. Where would you go for the fairest political and legal system, with good protection for minorities and other important factors? France --- for minorities? Oh, sure, no prejudice there (ha!). I'm including the factor of security against terrorists. without clamping down too hard on all of us non-terrorists. Where else have there been no terrorist killings since 9/11 --- Spain, Holland, England? We're not perfect, but so far, we're doing great. Where else are so many immigrants risking their lives to get in? That in itself is a great test. From where do the vast majority of new inventions pop up every day? Sure, Nokia sometimes gets a little bit ahead of Motorola (although cellular phones were invented by Motorola and Bell Labs), and Airbus sometimes nearly catches up to Boeing. But almost all new things are actually invented here. For one thing, there's no place else where you can get as much venture capital, or get a bank loan for a new building. Our schools might not be generating as many high scores in math tests, but they still do generate the vast majority of open-minded, creative engineers. Even in the arts, no other country has a Disney or a Time Warner or so many new singers and bands, or movies, or so many TV shows that are dubbed into foreign languages. Satellite dishes spring up all over the world, to catch our entertainment and news shows, even where it's not legal or allowed by religious groups. Entertainment is a big factor in happiness. We have plenty of problems, but at least we do admit their existance and get them out in the open. Then we do our best to cure them. So far, there's no other country of culture that's doing as well. They should all be trying to copy our best qualities, instead of knocking us. ------------ About the author: Dan Shanefield is a retired engineering prof, who worked at Bell Labs and then at Rutgers University. He wrote the book "Industrial Electronics for Engineers, Chemists, and Technicians". Visit his website or email: shanefield@ieee.org Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
