[IP] OP-ED: Fly Me to the Moon
Begin forwarded message:
From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: December 5, 2004 10:22:30 AM EST
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <dewayne-net@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] OP-ED: Fly Me to the Moon
Reply-To: dewayne@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
OP-ED COLUMNIST
Fly Me to the Moon
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/05/opinion/05friedman.html?
oref=login&hp>
Of all the irresponsible aspects of the 2005 budget bill that
the Republican-led Congress just passed, nothing could be more
irresponsible than the fact that funding for the National
Science Foundation was cut by nearly 2 percent, or $105
million.
Think about this. We are facing a mounting crisis in science
and engineering education. The generation of scientists,
engineers and mathematicians who were spurred to get advanced
degrees by the 1957 Soviet launch of Sputnik and the challenge
by President John Kennedy to put a man on the moon is slowly
retiring.
But because of the steady erosion of science, math and
engineering education in U.S. high schools, our cold war
generation of American scientists is not being fully
replenished. We traditionally filled the gap with Indian,
Chinese and other immigrant brainpower. But post-9/11, many of
these foreign engineers are not coming here anymore, and,
because the world is now flat and wired, many others can stay
home and innovate without having to emigrate.
If we don't do something soon and dramatic to reverse this
"erosion," Shirley Ann Jackson, the president of Rensselaer
Polytechnic and president of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science, told me, we are not going to have the
scientific foundation to sustain our high standard of living
in 15 or 20 years.
Instead of doubling the N.S.F. budget - to support more
science education and research at every level - this Congress
decided to cut it! Could anything be more idiotic?
If President Bush is looking for a legacy, I have just the one
for him - a national science project that would be our
generation's moon shot: a crash science initiative for
alternative energy and conservation to make America
energy-independent in 10 years. Imagine if every American kid,
in every school, were galvanized around such a vision. Ah, you
say, nice idea, Friedman, but what does it have to do with
your subject - foreign policy?
Everything! You give me an America that is energy-independent
and I will give you sharply reduced oil revenues for the worst
governments in the world. I will give you political reform
from Moscow to Riyadh to Tehran. Yes, deprive these regimes of
the huge oil windfalls on which they depend and you will force
them to reform by having to tap their people instead of oil
wells. These regimes won't change when we tell them they
should. They will change only when they tell themselves they
must.
When did the Soviet Union collapse? When did reform take off
in Iran? When did the Oslo peace process begin? When did
economic reform become a hot topic in the Arab world? In the
late 1980's and early 1990's. And what was also happening
then? Oil prices were collapsing.
In November 1985, oil was $30 a barrel, recalled the noted oil
economist Philip Verleger. By July of 1986, oil had fallen to
$10 a barrel, and it did not climb back to $20 until April
1989. "Everyone thinks Ronald Reagan brought down the
Soviets," said Mr. Verleger. "That is wrong. It was the
collapse of their oil rents." It's no accident that the 1990's
was the decade of falling oil prices and falling walls.
If President Bush made energy independence his moon shot, he
would dry up revenue for terrorism; force Iran, Russia,
Venezuela and Saudi Arabia to take the path of reform - which
they will never do with $45-a-barrel oil - strengthen the
dollar; and improve his own standing in Europe, by doing
something huge to reduce global warming. He would also create
a magnet to inspire young people to contribute to the war on
terrorism and America's future by becoming scientists,
engineers and mathematicians. "This is not just a win-win,"
said the Johns Hopkins foreign policy expert Michael
Mandelbaum. "This is a win-win-win-win-win."
Or, Mr. Bush can ignore this challenge and spend the next four
years in an utterly futile effort to persuade Russia to be
restrained, Saudi Arabia to be moderate, Iran to be cautious
and Europe to be nice.
[snip]
Archives at: <http://Wireless.Com/Dewayne-Net>
Weblog at: <http://weblog.warpspeed.com>
-------------------------------------
You are subscribed as roessler@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To manage your subscription, go to
http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip
Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/