First Short Quiz – Questions Before Opening “Breakneck”

[johnkarls]

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A worthwhile exercise before opening a book is to ask yourself what you expect it to address so that you think reading it is worthwhile.

There follow Yours Truly’s preliminary questions.


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1. As noted on the face of our website’s “Reference Materials” section, does one of the reviews claim that -- “Wang’s central contention is that China is run as an engineering state that excels at construction while the US has become a lawyerly society that favours (stet - British spelling) obstruction”???

2. But even if the U.S. similarly excelled at construction (vs. obstruction), wouldn’t China still have (per the CIA World Factbook) 1.42 billion constructors while the U.S. would have only 342.0 million constructors?

3. In addition to population-size disparity, doesn’t the U.S. suffer from a cultural disparity vis-à-vis education with Asians typically worshipping education???

4. Indeed, in 2014 didn’t the Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) sue Harvard University alleging that the university's undergraduate admission practices violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by discriminating against Asian Americans whose worship of education meant that they had to have far higher achievements than non-Asians to be admitted???

5. BTW, on 6/29/2023 did the U.S. Supreme Court effectively rule against SFFA –

• quoting from p. 6-7 of its syllabus at https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/2 ... 9_hgdj.pdf --

“…respondent’s admissions programs fail to articulate a meaningful connection between the means they employ and the goals they pursue. To achieve the educational benefits of diversity, respondents measure the racial composition of their classes using racial categories that are plainly overbroad …The unclear connection between the goals that respondents seek and the means they employ preclude courts from meaningfully scrutinizing respondents’ admissions programs… Respondents have failed to present an exceedingly persuasive justification for separating students on the basis of race that is measurable and concrete enough to permit judicial review, as the Equal Protection Clause requires.”

• In other words, clean up your act Harvard with better obfuscation and you’re good to go with no real change in result!!!

6. Further re the cultural disparity vis-à-vis education (ref. Q-3), don’t America’s inner-city schools notoriously underperform with respect to reading and math proficiency at grade level???

7. And doesn’t this fail to take into account the American drop-out rate???

8. Didn’t each of the 178 “I Have A Dream” Programs in 51 American cities during the 1990’s promise an entire third-grade class of an inner-city school (or all of the third graders in a public-housing project) their college tuition if they stayed in school and then provide each student with a tutor and a mentor through HS graduation???8. Wasn’t the experience of the 178 “I Have A Dream” Programs in 51 American cities during the 1990’s that promised an entire third-grade class of an inner-city school (of all of the third graders in a public-housing project) their college tuition if they stayed in school and then provided each student with a tutor and a mentor through HS graduation???

9. Was their experience SINGLE-DIGIT HS GRADUATION RATES for the class just behind and just ahead of the “Dreamer class” and more than 90% HS-graduation/college-matriculation rates for the “Dreamer class”???

10. Did 95% of those Dreamers live in single-adult households headed by druggies -- 75%-80% of whom turned over any receipts to the pusher so the kids had to steal just in order to eat -- with the children knowing by Kindergarten that they were NOT eligible for their dreams and that their only realistic career objectives were pusher or pimp, or girl friend of a pusher or pimp graduating to whore – none of which requires much education???

11. Was the key that our tutors and mentors became SURROGATE PARENTS whom we coached to tell their Dreamers early and often – “You could make something of yourself with this program AND IT WOULD BREAK MY HEART IF YOU DIDN’T???

12. But even in addition to population/cultural/education differences, isn’t there a gaping difference in the type of government???

13. Doesn’t the U.S. have a democracy fostering “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”???

14. And doesn’t China have a government whose authoritarianism permits it to pursue whatever goals it wants???

15. Accompanied by the lack of a free press so that the workers don’t know what they’re missing???

16. However, hasn’t Xi Jinping (Chinese President since 2013) been the equivalent of a BENEVOLENT DICTATOR as described in Plato’s book entitled “Republic” – ruling in the best interests of the Chinese population???

17. Indeed, isn’t Xi Jinping’s “Belt and Road Initiative” which he launched upon acquiring power in 2013, nothing more than exploiting other countries, typically for natural resources, backed by old-fashioned “gunboat diplomacy” which the U.S. abandoned following World War II???

18. Does our focus book “Breakneck” have anything to say about America’s financing pre-Trump the rest of the world’s trade deficits so that the rest of the world can hire cheap Chinese labor which we have characterized numerous times as – “The World’s Wealthy Old Widow (i.e., the U.S.) Selling Her Crown Jewels To Survive”???

19. Did this “Wealthy Old Widow” image posit that for 40 years American policy (whether or not explicit) had been to export American manufacturing jobs to low-wage countries (primarily China)??? And at the same time, to run trade deficits with the rest of the world so that they could hire cheap Chinese labor???

20. BTW, do those trade deficits with the rest of the world mean that the amount of accumulated American debt (which now vastly exceeds American Gross Domestic Product or GDP) is unsustainable???