John Adams Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 A nice quote from Justice Scalia on lawyers. I mean there’d be a, you know, a defense or public defender from Podunk, you know, and this woman is really brilliant, you know. Why isn’t she out inventing the automobile or, you know, doing something productive for this society? I mean lawyers, after all, don’t produce anything. They enable other people to produce and to go on with their lives efficiently and in an atmosphere of freedom. That’s important, but it doesn’t put food on the table and there have to be other people who are doing that. And I worry that we are devoting too many of our very best minds to this enterprise. http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2009/10/01/scalia...s-to-lawyering/ The WSJ also recently wrote that many other bright people flock to Wall Street for easy money instead of doing something useful. The reckoning with the Pacific rim on this is coming, probably not as soon as Dwight Drane thinks (9/2009? 2012? 2014?) but in the battle of the brains, we're behind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GG Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 A nice quote from Justice Scalia on lawyers. http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2009/10/01/scalia...s-to-lawyering/ The WSJ also recently wrote that many other bright people flock to Wall Street for easy money instead of doing something useful. The reckoning with the Pacific rim on this is coming, probably not as soon as Dwight Drane thinks (9/2009? 2012? 2014?) but in the battle of the brains, we're behind. You have to go back to the root of the problem, kids are abandoning math & science in high school for the softer curricula. Majority of science & math award winners are immigrants or children of immigrants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pine Barrens Mafia Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 You have to go back to the root of the problem, kids are abandoning math & science in high school for the softer curricula. Majority of science & math award winners are immigrants or children of immigrants. Can you really blame them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ieatcrayonz Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 You have to go back to the root of the problem, kids are abandoning math & science in high school for the softer curricula. Majority of science & math award winners are immigrants or children of immigrants. I think the problem may be our proximity to Canada. We could get way dumber than we already are but when you are next door to Canada it tends to make you think you're a genius. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Adams Posted October 2, 2009 Author Share Posted October 2, 2009 You have to go back to the root of the problem, kids are abandoning math & science in high school for the softer curricula. Majority of science & math award winners are immigrants or children of immigrants. That's some of the problem--maybe just the part that relates to sciences. The point also is that lots of smart people who might not be scientifically gifted but are otherwise extremely bright, are going into law instead of many other industries. Would you rather have a business tycoon or just another lawyer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GG Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 That's some of the problem--maybe just the part that relates to sciences. The point also is that lots of smart people who might not be scientifically gifted but are otherwise extremely bright, are going into law instead of many other industries. Would you rather have a business tycoon or just another lawyer? I guess it depends on how you get to be that business tycoon. An interesting survey is found here. Engineering programs rank very high, yet if you talk to grads at the top liberal arts schools they'll extol the virtues of a "well rounded" education you get from their alma maters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Adams Posted October 2, 2009 Author Share Posted October 2, 2009 I guess it depends on how you get to be that business tycoon. An interesting survey is found here. Engineering programs rank very high, yet if you talk to grads at the top liberal arts schools they'll extol the virtues of a "well rounded" education you get from their alma maters. Reading Shakespeare and Locke doesn't build a car. Look at the non-punctuation dedouche John guy. Probably the pride of some Jesuit college somewhere. With regards to a liberal arts education, it's worth something but you can do that easily on your own. I'd contend that it's more challenging to self study Electrical Engineering. In a graduate-level computer networking course last week at Drexel, there were 35 students. Without checking green cards and based only on clothing and accents, I guessed 7 were American. 4 were honkeys. Meanwhile, China, Russia, and India are pumping out engineers by the thousand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 The reckoning with the Pacific rim on this is coming, probably not as soon as Dwight Drane thinks (9/2009? 2012? 2014?) but in the battle of the brains, we're behind. I'd say we're more than 'behind'. That war is over and we have lost, badly. The fallout just hasn't reached the mainland yet. Our insistence on raising generations of people with the idea that their 'individuality' is more important than knowing how to read or add has resulted in a nation of coddled, ignorant, pussies who have bought into the mindset of vilifying the successful and thinking a government hand-out is the solution to every problem. As a result, the American way of life as we know it will be forever changed for the worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GG Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 Reading Shakespeare and Locke doesn't build a car. Look at the non-punctuation dedouche John guy. Probably the pride of some Jesuit college somewhere. With regards to a liberal arts education, it's worth something but you can do that easily on your own. I'd contend that it's more challenging to self study Electrical Engineering. In a graduate-level computer networking course last week at Drexel, there were 35 students. Without checking green cards and based only on clothing and accents, I guessed 7 were American. 4 were honkeys. Meanwhile, China, Russia, and India are pumping out engineers by the thousand. Heh, check out the IT staffs at every major company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Adams Posted October 2, 2009 Author Share Posted October 2, 2009 Heh, check out the IT staffs at every major company. I work with a lot of telecom engineers. The old ones who barely use computers are white Americans. The young ones who know all the technology are 1st gen Americans or non-Americans who love it here. It's rare for me to work with a young 2d or 3d gen American engineer unless they are ubergeeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GG Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 I work with a lot of telecom engineers. The old ones who barely use computers are white Americans. The young ones who know all the technology are 1st gen Americans or non-Americans who love it here. It's rare for me to work with a young 2d or 3d gen American engineer unless they are ubergeeks. Too bad this rarely gets brought up when the topic of increasing the quota of H1B visas comes up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Adams Posted October 2, 2009 Author Share Posted October 2, 2009 Too bad this rarely gets brought up when the topic of increasing the quota of H1B visas comes up. Bill Gates brings it up all the time. We have 3 people working for us from India and 1 from Japan--it is incredibly costly for us to help them with their visas but they are part of us now and we do thousands of dollars of work (and pay the fees) to help them stay. Still, one guy had to go back to India to be with his sick mom and got stuck there for 7 months while visa issues were straightened out. His wife and 2 kids sat in the states worried to death. He finally made it back. He's a PhD telecom phenom. I wish he'd apply for citizenship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Fischer Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 Anyone ask Scalia why he became a lawyer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Fischer Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 I'd say we're more than 'behind'. That war is over and we have lost, badly. The fallout just hasn't reached the mainland yet. Our insistence on raising generations of people with the idea that their 'individuality' is more important than knowing how to read or add has resulted in a nation of coddled, ignorant, pussies who have bought into the mindset of vilifying the successful and thinking a government hand-out is the solution to every problem. As a result, the American way of life as we know it will be forever changed for the worse. Agreed. We should suppress encouragement of individual choice and direct children into work that is best for the state. The state must set up tests to achieve a high minimum proficiency in math, science and reading. The state must indoctrinate students to choose careers they wouldn't ordinarily choose for themselves. We must do what is good for the Motherland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YellowLinesandArmadillos Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 Too bad this rarely gets brought up when the topic of increasing the quota of H1B visas comes up. I know a lot of engineers and they are in the military right now.... Not sure if that is the problem but I know a lot of second and third generation engineers. Hmmm, could be the pay scale? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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