Re:

[Dan Goodman]

soc.history.what-if is the wrong newsgroup for this; it's about
alternate history. That is, what if things HAD happened differently.

alt.history.future, which is about what MIGHT happen later, is more
appropriate.

Red Dodgby wrote:

> Assuming that the US population is becoming more and more
> uneducated, and that the cultural level of the US is dropping and
> will soon be not too different from, say, Mexico's,

You're neglecting the effects of improvements in Mexico, and other
countries at the same level.

> what effect do
> you think this will have on US military, economic, and
> scientific standing?
>
> I am assuming that an educated elite, and one becoming more and
> more of an elite as the general cultural level drops, will
> continue, at least for a time, to be a font of innovation which
> will trickle down, albeit more and more raggedly, to the
> degenerating masses.

You're assuming that the elite's education is _useful_. There are some
who say the MBA degree is actually worse than useless, for example.

You're also assuming that innovation comes from an educated elite.
Offhand, I would say that history shows it can also come from 1) an
uneducated elite, 2) an educated outgroup, or 3) uneducated members of
the masses.

You may also be assuming no educated immigrants and no diffusion of
innovation from other countries.

> But that is the short to medium term - say 10 to 15 years. What
> happens later?

--
Dan Goodman
"I have always depended on the kindness of stranglers."
Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Expire
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