Oh, we're exceptional alright!

Suppose you're running a business. Periodically, unless you're really stupid, you take a look at what your competition is doing.


You discover that your competition is making the same product as you, but their product is measurably better and it costs only half of your cost. What do you do?


Well, if your business is called America and the product is health care or education, you don't do much. After all, you're the world leader in just about everything. The rest of the world wants to be like the "shining city on the hill." Many of our citizens believe that we Americans are a special people with a special destiny to lead the world.


While that may have been the case a generation or so ago, it's tough to argue for "American exceptionalism" today. Let's look at a couple of examples: healthcare and education.


This weekend, I was reminded of a statistic of which we should all be aware. 50% of all American bankruptcies are caused by medical bills. Here's a statistic that hurts even more. Half of those bankruptcies due to medical bills happen to families who have health insurance.


Ours is the only developed nation in which parents go to bed every night afraid that if their kids--or they-- get sick they won't be able to afford medical care. In no other developed country do people lose everything they've worked for their entire lives because of medical bills.


Still feeling "exceptional?" 


Faced with this reality, what do we do? We tinker around the edges, because this is America. Our system is the best because it's the "American" system. We're that shining city on the hill, etc. And the tooth fairy is real.


It's the same with education. Our competitors are clubbing us to death with their superior educational systems. They've developed these systems by watching us, then taking their systems to the next level.


Meanwhile, we sit back fat and happy convinced that there'll always be good jobs because this is America. Whatever is happening is just a temporary "ripple" that will soon pass.


We tinker around the edges of our system. If we just test our kids to death so that we can identify the "bad teachers," things will improve. If we add some hours to the school year, things will improve. If we use method A to teach reading instead of method B, things will improve. If we get rid of unions, things will improve.


The New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce has taken a look at our educational system. Their conclusion: "The problem is not with our educators. It is with the system in which they work."


In the coming days, we'll take a closer look at their report.