44 per cent of Americans view China as the world's leading economic power

[markits]

http://www.timeslive.co.za/news/world/article219635.ece

Americans see diminishing role in world, China's rise
Dec 3, 2009 7:21 PM | By Sapa

Americans increasingly view the United States as playing a less important role in the world and as many as half expressed the desire to become more isolated from global affairs, according to a poll released.

The Pew Research Centre poll found that 41 per cent of Americans believe the US plays a weaker role in the world than it did 10 years ago, the highest number ever shown by the survey.

Meanwhile, 44 per cent of Americans view China as the world's leading economic power while only 27 per cent named their own country. The numbers reflect the poor US economy and China's growing control of the US national debt.

There is also rising isolationist sentiment. Forty-nine per cent of Americans - an all time high in the poll - believe the United States should "mind its own business internationally and let other countries get along the best they can on their own."

In the wake of President Barack Obama's decision to deploy 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, 57 per cent of those surveyed said the war is not going well.

[touchring]

We usually view China in terms of Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, but few go to the inland cities and provinces where it is still chaotic.

[squirrel]

Not so long ago I would've thought that 44% of Americans could not locate China on a world map.

[yanni]

Originally Posted by squirrel

Not so long ago I would've thought that 44% of Americans could not locate China on a world map.

Of course they can. When they search the map for Mexico they usually find China. Easy.

[tee1]

Originally Posted by squirrel

Not so long ago I would've thought that 44% of Americans could not locate China on a world map.

Several years ago I was taking a test in an "Asian Cultures" class. You know the whole semester dealt with things associated with Asia. On the final there was a map of Asia, which asked you to identify/name most of the countries in Asia, plus the islands of Japan. a guy learns over goes "psst where is China" I wanted to answer just write China anywhere because it covers pretty much covers the whole f@#$ing sheet paper :D

[touchring]

Originally Posted by tee1

Several years ago I was taking a test in an "Asian Cultures" class. You know the whole semester dealt with things associated with Asia. On the final there was a map of Asia, which asked you to identify/name most of the countries in Asia, plus the islands of Japan. a guy learns over goes "psst where is China" I wanted to answer just write China anywhere because it covers pretty much covers the whole f@#$ing sheet paper :D

is there such thing as asian culture?

[tee1]

Originally Posted by touchring

is there such thing as asian culture?

The name of the course officially I think was "Asian Cultures" which being plural meant she could teach whatever she wanted. Any culture that she could tie to Asia, But No i don't think there is one culture for Asia. One of the better classes in my undergrad. She was Japanese so teh course focused heavily on Japan.

[tee1]

Originally Posted by touchring

is there such thing as asian culture?

The name of the course officially I think was "Asian Cultures" which being plural meant she could teach whatever she wanted. Any culture that she could tie to Asia, But No i don't think there is one culture for Asia. One of the better classes in my undergrad. She was Japanese so teh course focused heavily on Japan.

The best I remember I don't think it was a true study of 'culture' but rather covered briefly a variety of topics, history, politics, economics, religion & sociology of Japan and China.

[CapeBrenton]

The American model relies heavily on an uneducated underclass. I don't think it occurs by design but rather by coincidence.

One dynamic that's fairly unique to hyper-capitalist societies such as ours is that primary education often becomes a socially obligatory warehousing system, save for that "intellectual top 10%" that exists in every society, where we indeed manage them quite well. Merit based systems are often times very inconsiderate of those who don't perform to the highest degree and this is reflected in education.

This was a fine model when we were defining modern civilization and needed an enormous economic underclass to do all the labor that needed to be done- we could afford to be blase about education, since our standard of living for the lower quintile was about where it was for the upper quintile in many countries. 'Don't know where China is on a map? Who cares... You can still own two cars and a four bedroom house with all the amenities by going down to work at the Chrysler plant, straight out of high school...'

Now that we no longer enjoy those economic advantages, we have a tough road ahead unless we change our education system, and fast. We can no longer let enormous swaths of our population bumble along clueless and with blinders on, since the opportunities that served to subsidize their ignorance are no longer available in this country. When the 'jobs aren't there' and money isn't raining from the skies, having a lot of idiots doesn't benefit 'the system' but rather, becomes a perilous drag upon it.

In my city of Chicago, whenever I go to the grocery store, I'd estimate 80% of everyone in that store is using a government benefits card to pay for their food (Chicago is somewhat unique in that great neighborhoods often times lie right next to awful ones). I see it in the checkout line, every single time, with mind-boggling consistency. We cannot let this continue...

[squirrel]

That's a nice post mate. You should read "Twilight of the American Culture", it's a nice small book that fits nicely with this thread's topic.