Why Aren't We More Competitive?

[Guerrero]

I was just thinking…why aren’t American institutions more competitive?

Why don’t our companies have large scale fitness programs and compete with eachother, and the club sport employees get bonuses if they win?

Why don’t the branches of the service became more serious and more publicized in a whole variety of sports?

Why?

Wouldn’t you love to see Boeing vs Lockheed Martin, in Boxing or Gymnastics? This would breed such esprit d’corps.

Or how about power lifting meets in between Marines and Army with alot of pride waged in them.

Have I missed these, are they already happening?

[shizen]

There could always be more but as a whole there is definitely lots of competetion everywhere you look just have to find it. And yeah I think the navy and army have certain competitions all the time don’t think its power lifting since most of them are light and focus more on endurance.

[HoratioSandoval]

Yes, these competitions do happen. If I were you I’d just start over with a new username.

[Rykker]

[quote]HoratioSandoval wrote:
Yes, these competitions do happen. If I were you I’d just leave here, go to bodybuilding.com, and start over with a new username.[/quote]

Fixed that for ya.

[stokedporcupine]

[quote]Guerrero wrote:
Wouldn’t you love to see Boeing vs Lockheed Martin, in Boxing or Gymnastics? This would breed such esprit d’corps.
[/quote]

what the hell would this accomplish? when i saw the first line of your post, i thought you were going to talk about how American institutions need to become more technologically, academically, and economically more competitive.

i’m much more worried about the fact that the quality of American higher education is dissipating so quickly that major American companies are outsourcing even highly technical jobs now like engineers to places like India.

how about instead of Lockheed Martin worrying about boxing matches, they worry about making sure their engineers are still the best in the world… or making sure they can still find those great engineers here back home…

point is, American institutions have FAR greater things to worry about then setting up sports programs to encourage some sense of esprit d’corps.

[Himora22]

I think gymnastics as a inter-company competition would be asking a bit much. Softball, Flag football and golf is a bit more realistic. But you dont see alot of this anymore b/c it “dosent help the bottom line”. That it what most companies are focused on and having to have softball practice 2,3 or 4 times a week takes time away from “family time”(watching TV or sitting on the computer) plus it takes $. Im sure every one has heard the saying �??A happy worker is a productive worker�??, well it dosent apply anymore b/c �??every one is replaceable�?? and �??someone will do it for less�?? so why should our companies and major corporations promote fitness and camaraderie in the office?

The Army, Navy and Air Force dose still do a lot of these things but civilians don�??t see I b/c they don�??t really care and its not as big as it use to be. Even when Army and Navy play football its really just a joke b/c they arent what they once were

I think as a hole the contrary is less sociable and less friendly than it was when I was a kid. Growing up I new every kid in the neighborhood not just the ones on my street. If someone new moved in you went and introduced your self, now its just a smile or casual wave in passing.

But just to rap up, I think we are to worried about “whats wrong” with someone than we are interested in getting to know them(im guilty of this to). Also we are so goal oriented and its “work work work” and “business as usual” that we just dont do things like that any more. Now Im not saying it dosent go on, yeah some ppl still do it, but I havent met them.

[Himora22]

[quote]stokedporcupine wrote:

i’m much more worried about the fact that the quality of American higher education is dissipating so quickly that major American companies are outsourcing even highly technical jobs now like engineers to places like India.

point is, American institutions have FAR greater things to worry about then setting up sports programs to encourage some sense of esprit d’corps. [/quote]

This is kind of the point I wanted to make. Has most of the world caught or passed us, Yes. Have we fallen behind most everyone, Most definitely. But as we improve our economic and educational standards/structure we souldnt let our Social structure fall any farther than it has either

[grappler_123]

[quote]Himora22 wrote:
stokedporcupine wrote:

This is kind of the point I wanted to make. Has most of the world caught or passed us, Yes. Have we fallen behind most everyone, Most definitely. But as we improve our economic and educational standards/structure we souldnt let our Social structure fall any farther than it has either[/quote]

What?!? Back up a little, turbo.

MOST of the world has not caught up to nor passed us. The US is still the worlds leading (and only) economic superpower, as well as the worlds most powerful (by far) military. We also lead the world in medical advances, and until someone proves otherwise, our government structure is still the best.

SOME of the DEVELOPED world has passed us or caught up in some aspects. Consumer technology is not our strongest point. Public pre-university education leaves something to be desired. However, technology on a broader base, such as medical, military, or I would even argue engineering are still leaps and bounds beyond most of the world.

Our post-secondary education system is very good as well. We boast private universities such as Harvard, Yale, Stanford, USC, Brown, etc; and public schools such as UC-Berkeley, Wisconsin-Madison, etc.

Even in our current state of “decline”, which is more a result of an economy that became overinflated the last 7 years and a combination of two wars being waged, we are still able to provide economic and social support for other nations.

Now, you can find flaws and negatives in every aspect of ours, and others, societies, however, I would argue that you cannot find one country with a better combination of assets than the US. If you do, I can find flaws with them.

China is the US’s biggests threat to become the next “superpower”, and they still have some massive social issues to deal with. So comparatively, Im not really sure what you mean by our social structure falling further behind. If anything, the gap between the “haves” and “have-nots” has decreased over the past generation.

We have not ever, can not currently, nor will we ever be able to ensure that every person in this country has enough of anything. That is the flaw in a capitalistic society. The benefit is that most of these people have a choice to leave their current social status. It might be easier for some to get a leg up, but it is possible for any citizen and most non-citizens living in this country to improve their social standing either by initiative, education, hard work, or luck.

JMHO.

[Fulmen]

[quote]grappler_123 wrote:
We also lead the world in medical advances,[/quote]

Good laugh right there.

[grappler_123]

[quote]Fulmen wrote:
grappler_123 wrote:
We also lead the world in medical advances,

Good laugh right there.
[/quote]

why? please qualify.

[Himora22]

[quote]grappler_123 wrote:
Himora22 wrote:
stokedporcupine wrote:

This is kind of the point I wanted to make. Has most of the world caught or passed us, Yes. Have we fallen behind most everyone, Most definitely. But as we improve our economic and educational standards/structure we souldnt let our Social structure fall any farther than it has either

What?!? Back up a little, turbo.

MOST of the world has not caught up to nor passed us. The US is still the worlds leading (and only) economic superpower, as well as the worlds most powerful (by far) military. We also lead the world in medical advances, and until someone proves otherwise, our government structure is still the best.

SOME of the DEVELOPED world has passed us or caught up in some aspects. Consumer technology is not our strongest point. Public pre-university education leaves something to be desired. However, technology on a broader base, such as medical, military, or I would even argue engineering are still leaps and bounds beyond most of the world.

Our post-secondary education system is very good as well. We boast private universities such as Harvard, Yale, Stanford, USC, Brown, etc; and public schools such as UC-Berkeley, Wisconsin-Madison, etc.

Even in our current state of “decline”, which is more a result of an economy that became overinflated the last 7 years and a combination of two wars being waged, we are still able to provide economic and social support for other nations.

Now, you can find flaws and negatives in every aspect of ours, and others, societies, however, I would argue that you cannot find one country with a better combination of assets than the US. If you do, I can find flaws with them.

China is the US’s biggests threat to become the next “superpower”, and they still have some massive social issues to deal with. So comparatively, Im not really sure what you mean by our social structure falling further behind. If anything, the gap between the “haves” and “have-nots” has decreased over the past generation.

We have not ever, can not currently, nor will we ever be able to ensure that every person in this country has enough of anything. That is the flaw in a capitalistic society. The benefit is that most of these people have a choice to leave their current social status. It might be easier for some to get a leg up, but it is possible for any citizen and most non-citizens living in this country to improve their social standing either by initiative, education, hard work, or luck.

JMHO.

[/quote]

What?!? Back up a little, turbo.

Where did I say anything about any country being a super power and/or military powers? First I was commenting on what someone else wrote and our falling Social structure not standards(its not was it was 20, 30 yrs ago). We are more concerned about our selves than getting to know the ppl around us that we work with or live around and MOST companies dont really do anything do boost this b/c it dose not help their bottom line.

Take a chill pill there guy, you are reading way to far into what was said. Lets try to stay on topic

[Zap_Branigan]

[quote]grappler_123 wrote:
Himora22 wrote:
stokedporcupine wrote:

This is kind of the point I wanted to make. Has most of the world caught or passed us, Yes. Have we fallen behind most everyone, Most definitely. But as we improve our economic and educational standards/structure we souldnt let our Social structure fall any farther than it has either

What?!? Back up a little, turbo.

MOST of the world has not caught up to nor passed us. The US is still the worlds leading (and only) economic superpower, as well as the worlds most powerful (by far) military. We also lead the world in medical advances, and until someone proves otherwise, our government structure is still the best.

SOME of the DEVELOPED world has passed us or caught up in some aspects. Consumer technology is not our strongest point. Public pre-university education leaves something to be desired. However, technology on a broader base, such as medical, military, or I would even argue engineering are still leaps and bounds beyond most of the world.

Our post-secondary education system is very good as well. We boast private universities such as Harvard, Yale, Stanford, USC, Brown, etc; and public schools such as UC-Berkeley, Wisconsin-Madison, etc.

Even in our current state of “decline”, which is more a result of an economy that became overinflated the last 7 years and a combination of two wars being waged, we are still able to provide economic and social support for other nations.

Now, you can find flaws and negatives in every aspect of ours, and others, societies, however, I would argue that you cannot find one country with a better combination of assets than the US. If you do, I can find flaws with them.

China is the US’s biggests threat to become the next “superpower”, and they still have some massive social issues to deal with. So comparatively, Im not really sure what you mean by our social structure falling further behind. If anything, the gap between the “haves” and “have-nots” has decreased over the past generation.

We have not ever, can not currently, nor will we ever be able to ensure that every person in this country has enough of anything. That is the flaw in a capitalistic society. The benefit is that most of these people have a choice to leave their current social status. It might be easier for some to get a leg up, but it is possible for any citizen and most non-citizens living in this country to improve their social standing either by initiative, education, hard work, or luck.

JMHO.

[/quote]

Good post. Nice to see someone keep things in perspective.

[Himora22]

[quote]grappler_123 wrote:
Fulmen wrote:
grappler_123 wrote:
We also lead the world in medical advances,

Good laugh right there.

why? please qualify.
[/quote]

Europe leads the world in medical advances by far and most our our young Doctors are going over seas to places like India for schooling and residencies. I have a friend that went to Dominica to finish his doctorates.

[stokedporcupine]

[quote]grappler_123 wrote:
What?!? Back up a little, turbo.

MOST of the world has not caught up to nor passed us. The US is still the worlds leading (and only) economic superpower, as well as the worlds most powerful (by far) military. We also lead the world in medical advances, and until someone proves otherwise, our government structure is still the best.
[/quote]

the first two are true, though remember that economic supremacy can change over night, just ask our old English masters. Also, what makes our military powerful anymore is not the actual military itself, but rather our ability to move that military around the world efficiently. A toe-to-toe battle against Russia or China might be quite even, the only problem is neither country has the logistical ability to move their army like we do.

About the medical advances, remember that we may “lead the world”, but more and more the “we” is become Chinese and Indian students who happen to go to American universities.

SOME of the DEVELOPED world has passed us or caught up in some aspects. Consumer technology is not our strongest point. Public pre-university education leaves something to be desired. However, technology on a broader base, such as medical, military, or I would even argue engineering are still leaps and bounds beyond most of the world.

you surely understate the fact when you merely say that public secondary education “leaves something to be desired”. its downright broken.

also, as i pointed out above, our “technological base” might still be “leaps and bounds” beyond most of the world, but remember that more and more the students and academics that are driving that technological base are NOT Americans. this is a problem.

Our post-secondary education system is very good as well. We boast private universities such as Harvard, Yale, Stanford, USC, Brown, etc; and public schools such as UC-Berkeley, Wisconsin-Madison, etc.

You only highlight the good. It is quite well known that while the elite schools in the united states are still the best in the world (and do not fool yourself, that is only because those schools still can drawl in the elite academics of the world), the quality of the average university in America has dropped.

I can cite examples, but anyone in our academic system who cares about their education knows this.

Now, you can find flaws and negatives in every aspect of ours, and others, societies, however, I would argue that you cannot find one country with a better combination of assets than the US. If you do, I can find flaws with them.

China is the US’s biggests threat to become the next “superpower”, and they still have some massive social issues to deal with. So comparatively, Im not really sure what you mean by our social structure falling further behind. If anything, the gap between the “haves” and “have-nots” has decreased over the past generation.

few would dispute the fact that America has many “assets”, as you put it. The idea though that the gap between the rich and the poor has done anything but INCREASE is insane. All one has to do is look at economic stats like real purchasing power to see that the middle class has fallen in the last 30 years.

Just trying to put a realistic spin on your optimism.

[Himora22]

Great post stokedporcupine

[grappler_123]

[quote]Himora22 wrote:
grappler_123 wrote:
Fulmen wrote:
grappler_123 wrote:
We also lead the world in medical advances,

Good laugh right there.

why? please qualify.

Europe leads the world in medical advances by far and most our our young Doctors are going over seas to places like India for schooling and residencies. I have a friend that went to Dominica to finish his doctorates.[/quote]

my wife is a medical student and Loma Linda University in California. This is considered one of the best medical schools in the country. This best neo-natel hospital west of the Mississippi.

she is going to her residency at UW-Madison University Hospital.

She knows 2 international students, and nobody she knows is going overseas for their residencies.

Your statement of MOST is incorrect. SOME would be a more accurate description. Also, consideration needs to be given to what type of medicine is being learned.

[Kruiser]

Jeez, what country do you live in anyway???

America is the land of the lazy. Most of the population is just fine sitting on their fat asses munching trans fat laden sugar bombs while watching American Idol reruns. Even the children don’t “play” anymore.

Government and corporate sponsored athletic programs and competitions?..

Don’t hold your breath!

[Himora22]

[quote]grappler_123 wrote:

Your statement of MOST is incorrect. SOME would be a more accurate description. Also, consideration needs to be given to what type of medicine is being learned.
[/quote]

you are absolutely right. My apology.

[Himora22]

[quote]Kruiser wrote:
Jeez, what country do you live in anyway???

America is the land of the lazy. Most of the population is just fine sitting on their fat asses munching trans fat laden sugar bombs while watching American Idol reruns. Even the children don’t “play” anymore.

Government and corporate sponsored athletic programs and competitions?..

Don’t hold your breath! [/quote]

YES. My point exactly

[Zap_Branigan]

[quote]Himora22 wrote:
grappler_123 wrote:
Fulmen wrote:
grappler_123 wrote:
We also lead the world in medical advances,

Good laugh right there.

why? please qualify.

Europe leads the world in medical advances by far and most our our young Doctors are going over seas to places like India for schooling and residencies. I have a friend that went to Dominica to finish his doctorates.[/quote]

lol.