The Idea Exchange

I’ve posted on here before about the US losing its edge in certain areas such as engineering and education.  While I believe this is still true, I came across a very interesting article in this week’s edition of The Economist.  The title sums it up well: “Still #1.”

The article basically states that although the United States may seem weakened right now due to the War on Iraq among other things, America still has its hold on the lone superpower position.  China has been growing and will soon take over the US in terms of economic size and purchasing power but still has a very unstable political structure that could crack at any time.  Investing in countries such as China is a great idea right now, but a large amount of risk is involved due to this unstable political structure.  The Bush Administration, according to the article, has set the US back in the short term, but has not actually affected the balance of power that the United States still holds.

The United States still carries the most “hard” power because it has the largest and most powerful military force.  The emergence of China and India is only good for the United States because these emerging economies will be trading a much larger volume of goods with the US.

 I believe this article is correct in all of its claims.  I would only like to add a cautionary aside.  The United States may still be on top for now, but if we continue to have poor political leadership or don’t improve our education system and overall motivation, the balance of power could shift dramatically. 

What has gotten the US to the point it’s at, will not necessarily allow it to remain at the top.  The playing field has changed, and there is a new set of rules.  The balance of power will shift to whomever can adapt, embrace, and create these new rules better than anyone else.

Although this probably isn’t consistent with great new ideas or conversation, I couldn’t help but post this exciting article from ESPN.com.  Indiana University’s Little 500 has been ranked #26 on the list of 101 Things Sports Fans Must Experience Before They Die.  Now I’m a huge sports fans, and many things on this list sound incredibly appealing to me (especially #19 UNC vs. Duke Basketball Game), but I was astounded to see the Little 500 ranked above such well known sporting events like the very event it’s named for, the Indy 500, and also The Kentucky Derby, U.S Open Tennis, and the Daytona 500.  Little 500 is definitely an amazing weekend, and I think it would be great to see an even larger contingent of pure sports fans attending rather than just IU students and alumni.

If you think about it though, the Little 500 was first started as a small bike race put on by a campus group.  It didn’t take a whole lot of effort, but once people started to enjoy it like the members of that group did, its popularity skyrocketed.  Why don’t you start an event you’re passionate about?  All it takes is a little effort and support, and with some luck, someday your event could be listed as something you must do before you die.

I recenctly came across two outstanding websites that really give everyone a chance to collaborate and make the difference you want to see in the world. Check them out: Change.org and Idealist.org. Also, a great resource to see what is going on in the efforts to make the world a better place, particularly the environment, is Worldchanging.org. Enjoy!