Originally posted on C2 Education’s Blog
It’s Thanksgiving time! It has always been one of my favorite holidays – with all the food, family, and football (Go Ravens). And, there has been a lot to be thankful about this year. C2 sent a record number of students to Harvard University and had a record number of students score above a 2000 on the SAT. C2 had a record number of its own teachers gain acceptance into top graduate schools. I feel especially thankful for having been invited to the White House and meeting great people like Congressman Dave Camp of Michigan and John Lechleiter, CEO of Eli Lily. So, on this day off, I thought I would reflect on how education is important for the flourishing of stable and great democracy like ours.
In a recent Wall Street Journal article, Peggy Noonan derides President Obama for his salesman-like political tactics. Among other things, she argues that Obama is a stronger salesman than he is a politician, a man who can sell his ideas but who cannot seem to actually deliver on them. She paints a broader picture of a political system in which the winners are those who can best sell their ideas, not necessarily those who can implement them.
While I agree in part with Noonan, I feel that it is unfair to pillory President Obama (or, for that matter, Herman Cain, who also takes a beating in the article) for playing a game that was not of his own devising. I agree with Noonan that our political system has become a contest of salesmanship – too much flash not enough substance. The nation has become a battered used car, and it is our politicians’ goal to sell the voters on the value of that car. Like the typical used car salesman, a politician must manipulate facts so that his audience hears what it wants to hear: This car is not “old”, it is “vintage”; it is not dinged and dented, but “a diamond in the rough”.
The fact that our politicians have been brought to the level of used car salesmen is not the fault of the politicians, but the fault of the voters. History has proven that American voters simply will not elect a politician who tells the hard truths, so politicians no longer bother with the truth at all. Instead of selling realistic solutions to very real problems, our politicians have no recourse but to sell an ideal and unrealistic vision of what our used car nation could be: Our nation isn’t “falling behind,” but in the midst of “reform”; voters aren’t “ill informed,” they are “down to earth”.
No city better exemplifies this idea than the car capital of the nation, Detroit. Home to the Model-T, Detroit is a perfect example of a used car that politicians just can’t seem to sell. And, more than any other city in America, Detroit has suffered: Its population, now just 702,000, down from 2 million in 1950, declined 25% over the past 10 years; unemployment is over 14%, far higher than the national average; 1/3 of Detroit residence live below the poverty line; and 3,000 derelict houses are demolished by the city each year. Yet Detroit is not beyond salvation – given some tough choices the city could be saved. But the tough choices that are needed will never be uttered by a politician because the voters don’t want to hear about them.
Detroit’s many problems can be traced back to one fact: The Detroit of the past was fueled by a muscle economy, but muscle jobs go where muscle is cheaper. Like an investor whose sole stock was Bear Sterns, Detroit died because its economy wasn’t diversified. The solution to Detroit’s problems requires recognizing that Detroit must convert its muscle economy into a brain economy – but for the 88% of Detroit residents who don’t have a college degree, this solution simply isn’t palatable. At this point, Detroit’s decline has gone so far that improving the education of its citizenry is no longer enough to resurrect the city – after all, even if there was a glut of college grads in the city, there aren’t enough jobs to keep them there. That’s why we must also offer strong tax incentives to lure new businesses and industries into the city – Detroit can’t rely on cars alone. Detroit isn’t beyond a repair, but it won’t be fixed by salesmen parading as politicians. We need better leaders. We need better schools. We need to bring back innovation and pride in that label called “Made in USA.”
When you tune into the Detroit Lions game on Thanksgiving, remember what the team is playing for. The Lions need a win – Detroit needs something to be thankful for.
