HW 44

The two pieces that I read were the Obama speech to students around the world and the Thomas Friedman piece about the lack of innovation coming out of the United States and the increasing competitivenes coming from around the world notably China. Not surprisingly the two pieces took on two different views. The Obama speech giving an uplifting inspiring speech uncouraging all Americans of all backgrounds to fully commit to education with the promise of a good life at the end of the road where as the Friedman piece takes the stance that America just can't compete at the level of the world anymore and companies have no financial reason to stay either.

Even though I think that Obama gave a bit of an exagerated speech I think he was much more honest and realistic then any other president has been. Obama was actually able to make a real life connection with people who might not normally take a president seriously. However I think that he failed to show that he understands that for some people succeding in school is impossible. But perhaps having a job such as president of the United States doesn't allow you to make such remarks. Cosidering the fact that many people didn't even want the president to be talking to their kids he came dangerously close to saying something true. Hopefully there will be enough people out there who will be able to read deep into what the president said and actually make an attempt in school, but if your cutting school everyday the odds are you don't even know that the president made a speech.

The article by Thomas Friedman talked about how as the quality of education has risen over seas the quality of education in the United States has considerably decreased. Add that to the fact that opening a factory in China is considerably cheaper then in the United States that equates to a scientific market that is no longer in need of the United States. Where I disagree with Friedman is that the United States to the average consumer is where the best of everything is made, and considering the fact the Americans are the single largest group of consumers in the world its in the best interest of companies to innovate from within the United States. In other words a great product from China can go a long way, but a great product from the Unites States becomes ever lasting. However less and less Americans care about where their toys or computers are made so credibility of U.S. products is dangerously close to fading away.

HW 42

If there is one word that might get to the heart of the American dream, what every poor non english speaking immigrant thinks of when they think of America is college. The American higher education system is one of if not the most well respected in the world. But how fair is it? Is it really possible for someone to come in straight off the boat work hard and go to Yale. Or is it more likely that a rich white kid who had grades in the low b area and a fifteen hundred on their sat get the spot? Furthermore even if the poor kid who "pulled himself up by his bootstraps" got into an ivy league school what about financial aid? Are they going to be able to pay for it? Those are the questions that I have been pondering throughout this course.

I believe that the significance of this topic is very obvious to see. Whichever side of the aisle you land on college is something that has in some way had an impact on you. Wheather your a hard working guy who looses his job because the company wants to replace you with someone with a technical degree or a rich white person who messed up in school and feels they deserve a second chance, its all quite significant.

As well as the affect that college has on individuals it also has a great affect on society as a whole. In the United States today it's increasingly difficult to make a living without a college degree. So with this change society has to take into account the fact that as our population grows our system becomes more and more competitive and the job market could possibly become more ecomocally prejudice. So therefore the question has to be asked do we need to expand affirmative action to be more ecomically centered, keep it as a more race based system or is affirmative action just generally wrong. All subjects that are incredibly signficant to ourselves and society.