Are you a World-Class Idiot?

History of the world twenty years from now, and they come to the chapter "Y2K to March 2004," what will they say was the most crucial development? The attacks on the World Trade Center on 9/11 and the Iraq war? Or the convergence of technology and events that allowed India, China, and so many other countries to become part of the global supply chain for services and manufacturing, creating an explosion of wealth in the middle classes of the world's two biggest nations, giving them a huge new stake in the success of globalization? And with this "flattening" of the globe, which requires us to run faster in order to stay in place, has the world gotten too small and too fast for human beings and their political systems to adjust in a stable manner?

Yep Tommy, you got a good point. And the more I read today the more than ever I am concerned that the average American is not equipped to deal with it. Take this for example.

In the year 2002, with United States troops occupying Kabul, Afghanistan, and both Washington and the rest of the world debating a possible invasion of Iraq, 85% of 18 to 24-year-old Americans could not find either country on a map. It gets worse: Sixty-nine percent failed to find Britain. Twenty-nine percent couldn't find the freaking Pacific Ocean. Nearly a third believed the U.S. population to be somewhere between 1 and 2 billion.

In the last tax year, well over a million U.S. taxes were performed by hand -- by people in India. When you pick up a phone for technical support, you're not talking to Joe Sixpack in Duluth Iowa; you're talking to Harim in Bangladesh. Or "Chuck" in Bangalore. There's a reason that the Chinese Premiere made his first stop at Bill Gates' house on his recent U.S. visit. Do you know what it was?

"In China," Friedman quotes one Chinese businessman, "Bill Gates is Britney Spears. He's looked up to by millions of people. It's not that way in your country and admired. We want to be like him. It's not like that in America. In America, Britney Spears is Britney Spears"

The Chinese and Indians do not want to serve Americans, they want to lead Americans. They want to make the supercomputers, the new programs, and the science and have Americans do the shop-sweeping and backup work.

This should tell you something. What, you ask?

That we've got a nation of idiots here.

Maybe idiots is too harsh a word. It would be more precise to say we have a nation of people trained and accustomed to a world that no longer exists. If you've watched a sitcom from the 1970s like "All in the Family" and thought America was like that, you're in a fantasy world. Heck, if you watch sitcoms today and think that's anywhere near reality, you need a reality check. You think you can go march somewhere and demonstrate and change economic reality? Then you're lazy and spoiled. If we want to do better, we have to perform better. That's the way it works. If a politician says you can elect him or her or his or her party and they are going to "save your jobs"? They're lying to you. Don't be stupid and believe them. Change is coming, trust me.

According to a Committee for Economic Development study, 30 percent of large U.S. firms surveyed in 2002 believed a provincial, monolingual workforce had cost them business opportunities. The people who make jobs and wealth know something here. Let's listen to them.

I live in a rural area in the state of Virginia. We're supposed to have good schools. (Is that like an urban legend? Who's willing to bet 80% of people think their schools are above average?) I was completely surprised to find out recently that one out of three people in my area do not have high school diplomas! It's not unusual in many places to have a 50% dropout rate for high school! We've got PhDs from Russia coming to this country to work for $50K and meanwhile an uneducated population bitching about their 30 buck-an-hour union jobs going to Mexico. Yep. Let's pass a bunch of laws to protect our industrial incompetence. That'll do the trick. Those types of laws have worked so well in the past, right? Wrong.

While the western economies are still growing, they are not growing as fast as China and India.
Huge populations and well educated workers, especially in places like India, promise to radically shift the power structures of the world in the next century.

But I'm not here just yelling the sky is falling. I think there is something you, yes you, can do about it. Here are the things I think you need to be able to do in order to NOT be a world-class idiot:

Collaborate worldwide - you have to be able to work, develop new creative ideas, and talk effectively with people all over the world. That probably means using English and the internet, but don't bet on it. I'm learning more about India and China. If you're in your 20s, these areas had better be at the top of your study list.

Don't stop learning - if you think you've got ANY kind of degree or certificate and now "you've made it" -- you're smoking crack. Wake up. This new world economy means you had better read a few books on "where the market is going" for your interests every year. That's right -- every year. The more the better. You gotta keep running or get run over. Those of you who wanted to work at the factory all your life? It ain't going to happen. Or if it does happen, you'll be making a third of what you are now in real dollars and working for a foreigner who has been following these rules.

Be creative - mechanical processes are dumb. Don't get involved with them. Be creative. Do something to directly help somebody. People who do services and make creative things cannot easily be replaced. The more thinking and imagination you can apply, the more valuable you can be. Think about the big picture. Once again. Read. A lot.

Do something to make bucks - don't rely on some other organization to make money for you. Make it yourself. The average company fifty years from now will be 5-10 guys working virtually world-wide. Sure I just made that up, but that's the way it's looking. Keep that in your head.

Learn people skills - Here's the big thing they don't teach you in college: people skills will get you farther than technical skills. You may have something creative that you do, you may be able to collaborate and you may be ahead of the curve, but in the end of the day, you are going to have to interact with another human being to make money. Perhaps a lot of them. Know how to interview? Learn it. Know how to negotiate? You gotta. Learn it. The "soft skills" are the glue that puts the rest of the picture together.

America today is sitting in a world where one out of three successful countries are going to be a third-rate has-been in 50 years. Look to our left. Is it China? Nope. Look to our right. Is it India? Nope.

Let's make sure it's not us.

We'll do fine -- as long as we're honest with ourselves and are willing to adapt.

UPDATE: Here's an excerpt from a recent news article. Are we ready to work in global marketplace?

The Roper poll conducted on behalf of National Geographic found that most of the young adults questioned between the ages of 18 and 24 also had little knowledge about their own country, with half or fewer unable to identify the states of New York or Ohio on a map.

Moreover, the study said, many of those questioned were not bothered by their lack of geographic knowledge.

"Half think it is 'important but not absolutely necessary' either to know where countries in the news are located (50%) or to be able to speak a foreign language (47%)," a report on the survey said.

The report said that despite nearly constant news coverage since the US invasion of Iraq in March 2003, 63 percent of respondents could not find Iraq on a map and 75 percent could not find Israel or Iran.

It added that that nine in ten also could not find Afghanistan on a map of Asia and 70 percent could not find North Korea.

When questioned about natural disasters, only a third (33%) correctly chose Pakistan from four possible choices as the country hit by a huge earthquake in October 2005.

China fared better than most countries, with seven in ten (69%) respondents able to find it on a map. Still, the study found, young Americans have a number of misconceptions about China.

Nearly 75 percent believe English is the most widely spoken native language, rather than Mandarin Chinese, and half think that China is the biggest exporter of goods and services rather than the United States.