George Rebane
When it rains it pours. Today the OECD issued the umpteenth confirmation on the deep-seated dumbth that rules our land. Consider this little cri de coeur to be the sequel to ‘National Ignorance …’ and the most recent in the series on America’s intellectual capital that predates RR. What I am commenting on here is the just released international ‘Survey of Adult Skills’, reporting on a voluminous study by OECD’s Programme(sic) for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIIAC). I want to draw particular attention to ‘Adult’ in what follows. The entire series of 2013 PIIAC reports on adult skills may be found here. (Warning – if you have any vestiges of conservetarian beliefs, then only approach these reports with a crying towel and a very large glass of your favorite adult beverage firmly in hand.)
The Associated Press begins its coverage of the PIIAC survey ‘American Adults Score Poorly on Global Test’ with these words – It’s long been known that America’s school kids haven’t measured well compared with international peers. Now, there’s a new twist: Adults don’t either. … In math, reading and problem-solving using technology – all skills considered critical for global competitiveness and economic strength – American adults scored below the international average on a global test, according to results released Tuesday.
To that the 8oct13 WSJ report adds – The results show that the U.S. has lost the edge it held over the rest of the industrial world over the course of baby boomers’ work lives, said Joseph Fuller, a senior lecturer at Harvard Business School who studies competitiveness. “We had a lead and we blew it,” he said, adding that the generation of workers who have fallen behind their peers would have a difficult time catching up. … “We have a substantial percentage of the work force that does not have the basic aptitude to continue to learn and to make the most out of new technologies,” Mr. Fuller said. “That manifests itself in lower rates of productivity growth, and it’s productivity growth that drives real wage growth.” (emphasis mine)
The OECD is comprised of 34 developed countries which count among the leaders in human development across the world. The PIIAC survey covered 23 of their top industrialized states and included testing over 160,000 adults in reading, math (numeracy), and problem solving. The nearby graphics show how America fared among these nations.
As many of us have been pointing out, this level of dumbth is now baked into two generations of America’s adults made up of the large portion of graduates and dropouts from the country’s teachers union dominated government schools. But don’t misunderstand, our country is not uniformly filled with double dummies – the nightly comedy show ‘man in the street’ segments notwithstanding – but is actually divided into two distinct intellectual classes. And, of course, as most recently documented independently by Max Bauerlein, Charles Murray, and Tyler Cowen, the country’s wealth is also ever more concentrated in the hands of the smart ones.
Given that we are now well past the tipping point with an electorate addicted to what they perceive as ‘government freebies’ and more promised manna from heaven (e.g. Obamacare), there is no turning back. What puts paid to this assessment is that our nation’s teachers, short on subject matter expertise, are now concentrating on teaching the current crop of kids global warming mantras in place of science and politically correct platitudes on being sensitive and inclusive (which involves suspending anyone who makes gun sounds while pointing a cocked hand at a fellow student). The most recent curriculum from the fed’s central planners to assure our next generation’s place in the world is called Common Core. These are the same planners who will forever continue to do the same thing (under newly minted labels) while pretending to expect a different result.
The OECD’s assessment does not come as a surprise to anyone who has been paying attention for the last ten to twenty years (most certainly it shouldn’t to RR readers, e.g. here). Over four years ago I reported on the ‘Coming Crisis …’ that is now here in full force. Our own Dept of Education has been documenting the cognitive descent of America’s adults for over thirty years. (See the ‘National Assessment of Adult Literacy’, which website has been cynically shutdown as part of Obama’s effort to rattle the sheeple about continued government funding.) But all these results and reports have been hidden on page seven or simply ignored by outlets like MSNBC and the rest of the lamestream’s union chorus. Again, the central planners’ simple and same solution is to pour more money down the same well-worn educational rat hole as they promise different results.
Earlier this year I questioned equality in the voting booth and received the expected progressive blowback (here). But that still returns us to questions which must be answered as the tipping point recedes in the rear view mirror.
– What feasible recourse do the studied, skilled, and industrious have in light of proposed massive wealth transfer programs and growing regulatory morass that stifles wealth creation?
– Should this social and cognitive amalgam continue as is?
At this point in our country’s progress and with evidence growing daily, I am forced to admit that unless we make major systemic changes in the structure and governance of America, we then have no choice but to conclude that The Great Experiment has failed – Man cannot govern himself – and Jefferson’s dictum about ‘a nation ignorant and free’ is verified. We have no slack left to recover from what the country’s illiterates have in store for us through their overwhelming electoral support of elite central planners who promise to give them what they no longer can earn. It is long past the time when the cavalry should have arrived to save us. Nevertheless, I pray that I am wrong as I continue to work with today’s young people while awaiting evidence of such error.
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