Ten years until the moonwalk?

I am currently reading The World is Flat. It is a book which talks about globalism in the marketplace and how it effects everyone from America to developing countries to the companies comprising the market. He puts forth an interesting idea--what if the president made a call for finding alternative enery in ten years much like JFK did in calling for the nation to put a man on the moon in ten years. This is not just for the environment, or to become energy independent from the world. But when I think about Al Qaeda's attacks on the free world and the reasons for these being rooted in resentment towards a Western presence in their region, how great would it be to turn these terrorists into desperate appealers for international aid as the oil revenue from their $100 barrels dried up. I doubt they would be crying for us to stay out of their country then. And JFK's call didn't just result in a moonwalk, it spurred a generation of aspiring scientests and researchers who went on to propel the country into its status as the leader in many fields. This call and subsequent focus on research and development of new technologies and resources could once again boost America to the forefront.

Mr. Friedman also discusses the growing deficit or the shrinking lead in certain Science and Technology fields across America at a time when we need it more than ever. To make matters worse, science funding was being cut drastically at the time of publication. Of all the pork that is passed, all the money we come up with for defense and the current military operations, the millions spent on social programs or any other department of government, cutting funding for the future(isn't that what scientific research is all about?) doesn't sit right with me. Surely we can devote some funds to figure out a way to end reliance on such a volatile region for such an essential resource.

An area that has always seemed to me imperative to improve at any given opportunity is education. Education of the next generation of scientists in America can't simply be fixed by throwing money into the school system, this would probably result in the purchase of a newer version of a textbook, a low fat snack vending machine, and of course increased salaries. I think a huge obstacle is figuring out how to go about raising children to aspire to become scientists; but a quote I love from the book that might be helpful is in China Bill Gates is the Brittany Spears, in America Brittany Spears is the Brittany Spears.

The book has served as an eye opener for me in the sense that growing up in America we assume our place as the world leader, whether economically, politically, militarily, or what have you. This feeling of entitlement is now colliding sharply with the plain truth that we will not be able to dominate in most areas and in some we can't even compete. We either need to work harder in this flatter world or ready ourselves for a bit of a shock when our standards of living start to fall.