Tom Friedman recently published a column in the New York times that hit home. He says that in the last seven years, China concentrated on national investment, planning, concentrated state power, national mobilization and hard work. Meanwhile the U.S. did nation building in Afghanistan and Iraq and let our own infrastructure go to hell.
How China and America spent the last 7 years
Readers comments varied but the one that most resonated with me is printed in its entirety below. Thanks, hdavis, for saying it so well. He is addressing Tom Friedman.
You have written many excellent columns over the years, but this hit home with me more than any past column. America, the country I love, is in trouble. I always thought our comeback was a moment away. We simply needed to see the challenge and we would rise to meet it. I am no longer sure we can do that. I walk into any major store in America and see few items that we make. In contrast we can make war better (in terms of destruction) than any country in the world. But as a veteran of one war I know nobody is better off in the end and all the USA has done is waste vital resources and energy. I was a Vietnam vet and if we had never been there, we and Vietnam would be better off or at least no worse off. We would not have lost the contribution of 55,000 individuals to our society who instead died in a meaningless war. In the end all wars are meaningless except for the families of the young men and now women who die. We should simply leave the Middle East. We will be better off than if we stay. We need to come home and fix our country. Keep up the good words. I like your work!
— hdavis@uccs.edu, Colorado
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Why John McCain can't rely on technology advisors
A reader asked me if I think McCain could manage competently with technology advisors. Is there something uniquely different about technology compared with economics, foreign policy, or the environment?
My reply:
First off, while he may not know a lot about economics or foreign policy or the environment, he'll have some personal direct experience with all of these areas.
Direct experience is the key here. So, he'll have some personal direct experience from which to draw on to help him discern the information from his advisors. Not so with computer technology. All he'll know is what he'll be told. This will make it easier for a clever, ambitious group of people to steer him into decisions with misinformation. In short, it's easy to trick someone who depends on you for all his information. We went through that problem in Ronald Reagan's presidency. He had early Alzheimer's disease, which was hidden until he was out of office. His trusty advisors ran the Whitehouse and we had Contragate. Not good.
But the more important point is that computers are the entry point for using the Internet and not only has the Internet has changed our lives; it's changed our thinking.
I've owned a personal computer for 20 years. Just this last year I've ventured forth beyond MapQuest and email and reading the New York Times and the Washington Post online. As I've been getting acquainted with the Internet, I am astounded.
The Internet has almost driven staid, old newspapers that are read worldwide, like the NYT and Washington Post, out of business. We get the news from sources that are concepts that didn't exist a few years ago: Youtube, of all places, has been influential in this presidential campaign. That's where I went to find the video of McCain saying he was computer illiterate.
There's also Technorati, Newsvine, Sphere, Zinester, all kinds of services popping up monthly. Nowdays, someone with almost no money but a big idea and a little bit of technical understanding can launch something that grows exponentially and has national or even international influence.
We don't know where we're going with the Internet and all that it offers. I notice that Nicholas Kristof from the NYT has a page on Facebook, as do many other famous newspapers. Why? To attract the young, of course, but I also think they want to have a presence because we don't know how Facebook will be used in months to come.
We don't know how much more is possible with the Internet. The only limit seems to be the human mind and it's wonderful creativity. There is no physical structure to the Internet, so it's growing organically at a rapid speed. All we know is that it is changing how we live and how we think.
That's the point I'm driving to: It's changing how we think.
I mean that in a deep way. How we think about ourselves in the world, how we are placed in the world and how we impact the world. I really don't believe a person can understand this without some minimal direct experience.
Like I said at the beginning of this entry, I've owned a personal computer for twenty years. But when I got my own website and began blogging, I started to really explore the Internet. I have only seen a small portion of the Internet, yet it boggles my mind. There are amazing things happening on the Internet, yet there is still unrealized potential. The Internet is already a living, organic entity that is whipping its users.
McCain hasn't even taken that first baby step into using a computer. How can he understand the Internet without any direct experience? His mind won't catch an understanding on advice alone.
My reply:
First off, while he may not know a lot about economics or foreign policy or the environment, he'll have some personal direct experience with all of these areas.
Direct experience is the key here. So, he'll have some personal direct experience from which to draw on to help him discern the information from his advisors. Not so with computer technology. All he'll know is what he'll be told. This will make it easier for a clever, ambitious group of people to steer him into decisions with misinformation. In short, it's easy to trick someone who depends on you for all his information. We went through that problem in Ronald Reagan's presidency. He had early Alzheimer's disease, which was hidden until he was out of office. His trusty advisors ran the Whitehouse and we had Contragate. Not good.
But the more important point is that computers are the entry point for using the Internet and not only has the Internet has changed our lives; it's changed our thinking.
I've owned a personal computer for 20 years. Just this last year I've ventured forth beyond MapQuest and email and reading the New York Times and the Washington Post online. As I've been getting acquainted with the Internet, I am astounded.
The Internet has almost driven staid, old newspapers that are read worldwide, like the NYT and Washington Post, out of business. We get the news from sources that are concepts that didn't exist a few years ago: Youtube, of all places, has been influential in this presidential campaign. That's where I went to find the video of McCain saying he was computer illiterate.
There's also Technorati, Newsvine, Sphere, Zinester, all kinds of services popping up monthly. Nowdays, someone with almost no money but a big idea and a little bit of technical understanding can launch something that grows exponentially and has national or even international influence.
We don't know where we're going with the Internet and all that it offers. I notice that Nicholas Kristof from the NYT has a page on Facebook, as do many other famous newspapers. Why? To attract the young, of course, but I also think they want to have a presence because we don't know how Facebook will be used in months to come.
We don't know how much more is possible with the Internet. The only limit seems to be the human mind and it's wonderful creativity. There is no physical structure to the Internet, so it's growing organically at a rapid speed. All we know is that it is changing how we live and how we think.
That's the point I'm driving to: It's changing how we think.
I mean that in a deep way. How we think about ourselves in the world, how we are placed in the world and how we impact the world. I really don't believe a person can understand this without some minimal direct experience.
Like I said at the beginning of this entry, I've owned a personal computer for twenty years. But when I got my own website and began blogging, I started to really explore the Internet. I have only seen a small portion of the Internet, yet it boggles my mind. There are amazing things happening on the Internet, yet there is still unrealized potential. The Internet is already a living, organic entity that is whipping its users.
McCain hasn't even taken that first baby step into using a computer. How can he understand the Internet without any direct experience? His mind won't catch an understanding on advice alone.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Attention John McCain: Computers aren't just for the young
Senator John McCain should have a tremendous appeal with voters over the age of 55: he’s old and he still has high aspirations. This should inspire those of us who are old enough to join the American Association of Retired People, yet find we have to continue working for another ten to fifteen years or even longer, the way the cost of living is going up.
Maybe it’s okay for us to not retire, considering a guy older than us has enough energy left to be president. But does he have enough of the right experience? I think not. I just went to YouTube and saw John McCain admit he is computer illiterate. Well, how was he to know this would be important? When he started his career, personal computers didn’t exist.
They didn’t exist for me and my peers in nursing school in the 1970s either. But by the mid-1980s, computers had begun to creep into our work. It scared some of us – we were high-touch, low-tech people, but we learned to use computers because that’s what we had to do. As time went on, we learned to input test results, chart and schedule visits on computers. As the health industry became an industry in financial crisis, we learned to talk to patients on the phone and chart on the computer at the same time.
I work now as a nurse in an insurance company. It’s a good job for an aging body. I work with nurses who are good nurses and dependable employees, but they really don’t want to learn anything new, certainly not anything like new computer software. We are old, we have paid our dues, our memories are shot and learning things other than compassion and patience at this age is difficult. Nonetheless, every couple of months, we go to another training on the software upgrades. We do this because we are working people with jobs in the 21st century. The economy being what it is, we thank this past administration for keeping us working so we stay current with the latest computer technology. Without our computer skills, we couldn’t email our kids and grandkids or use Google to find out if glucosamine helps arthritis or make airplane reservations to fly to the Democratic convention.
Which leaves me wondering how John McCain will manage his role as commander-in-chief when he’s illiterate? I can tell you how. He’ll do what he’s been doing the last fifty years; he’ll depend on his staff. He will depend on his staff to read and send his email, access internet information, key in data, and advise him on which telecommunication company should control the internet. Dependency like this will leave him completely vulnerable to people who got close to him by being smart and ambitious. Smarter than he is, perhaps. Do we want another old guy in the White House who depends on his subordinates for basic functions the rest of us old people mastered long ago? Just because he trusts his staff, should we? Do we want a president who embodies planned obsolescence?
Originally published at: http://www.MinnPost.com/community_voices/
Maybe it’s okay for us to not retire, considering a guy older than us has enough energy left to be president. But does he have enough of the right experience? I think not. I just went to YouTube and saw John McCain admit he is computer illiterate. Well, how was he to know this would be important? When he started his career, personal computers didn’t exist.
They didn’t exist for me and my peers in nursing school in the 1970s either. But by the mid-1980s, computers had begun to creep into our work. It scared some of us – we were high-touch, low-tech people, but we learned to use computers because that’s what we had to do. As time went on, we learned to input test results, chart and schedule visits on computers. As the health industry became an industry in financial crisis, we learned to talk to patients on the phone and chart on the computer at the same time.
I work now as a nurse in an insurance company. It’s a good job for an aging body. I work with nurses who are good nurses and dependable employees, but they really don’t want to learn anything new, certainly not anything like new computer software. We are old, we have paid our dues, our memories are shot and learning things other than compassion and patience at this age is difficult. Nonetheless, every couple of months, we go to another training on the software upgrades. We do this because we are working people with jobs in the 21st century. The economy being what it is, we thank this past administration for keeping us working so we stay current with the latest computer technology. Without our computer skills, we couldn’t email our kids and grandkids or use Google to find out if glucosamine helps arthritis or make airplane reservations to fly to the Democratic convention.
Which leaves me wondering how John McCain will manage his role as commander-in-chief when he’s illiterate? I can tell you how. He’ll do what he’s been doing the last fifty years; he’ll depend on his staff. He will depend on his staff to read and send his email, access internet information, key in data, and advise him on which telecommunication company should control the internet. Dependency like this will leave him completely vulnerable to people who got close to him by being smart and ambitious. Smarter than he is, perhaps. Do we want another old guy in the White House who depends on his subordinates for basic functions the rest of us old people mastered long ago? Just because he trusts his staff, should we? Do we want a president who embodies planned obsolescence?
Originally published at: http://www.MinnPost.com/community_voices/
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