Agreed. When we look at systemic changes since WWII, we can track attitudinal differences that contributed to the present state of affairs in R&D - and not just in the telecomms sector, either.
What we were, and what we are, are different. Relative to the rest of the world, we were in the sweet spot. It wasn't just economic strength, it was also a matter of interrelated values: belief in the long-term benefits of education; infrastructure investment and maintenance; economic and financial prudence; thinking ahead and planning for the future, and so on.
Perhaps we just couldn't handle the prosperity. Somewhere along the line we lost our grip on the concept that there ain't no free lunch: that maintaining our status required an investment in practices consistent with "old-time" virtues.
Western industrial democracies including the United States have made unprecedented contributions to the overall welfare of mankind. However, this isn't the first time that history has seen the rise and slow decline of primacy, and it won't be the last.
We've irretrievably changed the construct of our societies in many ways. Speaking broadly - there will always be individual bright spots - I don't see the will, among the electorate or governments, among the elites or the populace, to return to hard work, discipline, reduced socio-economic stratification, and the benefits that accrue from looking into the future.
If that's what we want to see, we must look elsewhere, to other emerging powers. Here, we're just doing damage control on the slide from excellence to mediocrity - and worse.
JMO,
Jim |
