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Re: Math, chemistry, engineering?
ER — (archived)

It's not that immigrants care more about their kids' educations than Americans, its that Americans are more complacent and ambivalent about education than most other cultures. Sometimes they are even suspicious of it. There are exceptions on both sides, of course, but that is just an observation I have made.

I was brought up indoctrinated with the idea that education was the key to the kingdom, that without it you were nothing, and that with it anything was possible. My high school classmates seemed to have the idea it was just a chore you had to get out of the way before you could start living your life.

If you ask most Americans about this, they will indignantly (and sincerely) deny it, but I think it is because Americans have less exposure to other cultures; America is a very uniform society. Just imagine if every one of the states bordering your home state spoke a different language and had a different culture, as is the case in Europe.

To someone familiar with other cultures, this just jumps out at you. Perhaps this is a reason why we should encourage immigration, and why places like New York City, South Florida and California are so vibrant and creative, in spite of their problems. You can't really understand your own culture, its good points as well as its shortcomings, unless you have others to compare it to.

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