by Dr. William L. Pierce
READING, writing, and arithmetic in the schoolroom may seem far removed from the fire and blood of the modern battlefield, but one can nevertheless understand much of the reason for the decline in Americans’ chances on the latter by looking at the causes of their declining performance in the former; the two grow from the same roots, as do also other of our current problems, including our faltering economy. (ILLUSTRATION: Creating and maintaining a civilization requires discipline as well as intelligence. The decline of American education is resulting in grave consequences for our nation.)
No other nation has a more expensive or elaborate system of public education than the United States. Nowhere else is there more opportunity for learning, at all levels.
At the top level America has some of the finest universities in the world, where the frontiers of knowledge have been pushed as far forward as in any other nation, and from these universities are coming as bright and well-trained scientists and engineers as will be found anywhere. Because of them America was able to launch the microelectronics revolution and to take a belated lead in the exploration of the solar system.
But while American industry still produces the world’s most advanced computers, and American astronauts still fly into space in the world’s most sophisticated spacecraft, that vital margin of quality which has been ours ever since the destruction of Germany in the Second World War has now shrunk almost to zero, and within the next decade leadership in technical excellence almost certainly will pass into other hands.
