A few days ago, I wrote about America’s political divide. I argued that our inability to find common ground isn't just exhausting. It is weakening our position on the global stage.
While we spiral into tribal fights, our adversaries are watching closely. Some are even cheering us on from the sidelines, confident we’ll do their work for them.
The responses to that piece came flooding in. Many were thoughtful and sincere. But some told another story.
One person wrote, “You are a f***ing libtard. You cause division.”
Another, a reader from New Zealand, said he hasn’t met anyone there who still believes America is a model of democracy. Even those who admire our music, cars, and culture have given up on our politics.
To my comment that “by 2030, the U.S. may no longer serve as the world’s example,” he replied, "It already doesn’t."
One message was angry. The other was somber, but both, in their own way, confirmed what I wrote.
America’s image is no longer built on unity, credibility, or competence. What we are showing the world now is fracture.
And while that fracture plays out in politics and institutions, another danger is unfolding in a quieter setting. It is playing out in classrooms.
What we choose to do about it, or ignore, may decide America’s future.
Our Students Are Falling Behind. The Consequences Are Already Global.
Earlier this year, an international exam delivered a brutal verdict. 15-year-olds in the United States scored lower in math than at any other time in the history of the PISA exam.
The drop wasn’t just steep. It was historic.
This didn’t happen in a vacuum. We have spent decades underfunding, over-politicizing, and undervaluing our education system.
We’ve argued about school masks and banned books while other nations have made education the cornerstone of their global strategies.
China, for example, is graduating twice as many STEM students as we are.
In 2022 alone, they awarded 50 percent more PhDs in science and engineering than the United States. That gap isn’t simply a matter of population. It reflects a deliberate national priority.
While we argue over whether students should be allowed to use ChatGPT, China is training a new generation of scientists, engineers, and mathematicians. Their goal is clear.
They intend to dominate artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and advanced computing.
They are not waiting to compete. They are planning to win.
Meanwhile, we are still coasting on our old reputation.
This Is Not Just About Test Scores. It’s About Credibility, Power, and the Future.
America once led the world not only because of its military or markets, but because of the minds it cultivated.
We educated dreamers, inventors, and problem-solvers. That was our edge. That was our story.
Now that story is slipping.
Follow the money and you’ll see the cracks.
Seven of the top ten research universities in the world are now outside the United States.
Patent filings are slowing. Tech companies can’t find enough qualified workers, even as the job market explodes around new technologies like AI.
Already, companies are struggling to hire employees who can do more than just repeat facts.
They need people who can think critically, solve unfamiliar problems, and communicate with nuance. That is where we are falling short.
And the shift is accelerating.
After the release of tools like ChatGPT, job postings for writers dropped by 30 percent. Programming jobs fell by 21 percent. One study estimates that as many as 400 million jobs around the world could be displaced by AI over the coming years.
Who wins in a world like that? The answer is simple. Those who learn the things machines cannot do.
The Future Belongs to Those Who Can Think Deeply and Act Wisely
Here’s the paradox. As technology advances, human skills become even more essential.
The more powerful the machines, the more we need leaders who know how to use them wisely.
The edge will not come from memorizing formulas.
It will come from teaching young people how to judge, how to imagine, and how to discern what is real in a world drowning in misinformation.
Empathy. Critical thinking. Creativity. Ethical reasoning. These are not "soft skills." They are survival skills in the age of AI.
Right now, our education system is failing to prioritize them.
We’ve pushed students to hit benchmarks and fill in bubbles while ignoring the very things that make a citizen resilient in uncertain times.
Some schools are starting to wake up. There is a renewed interest in civics, in deep reading, in teaching students how to spot propaganda or engage in meaningful debate.
But these changes remain scattered and slow.
The world is not waiting.
This Isn’t Just a School Issue.
If we continue to drift, the outcome is clear. By the end of this decade, we may see:
A chronic shortage of skilled workers in critical industries
A new “brain drain” as top researchers leave the U.S. for better opportunities abroad
Rising vulnerability to disinformation and conspiracy movements
A generation of citizens less equipped to lead, to unify, or even to recognize what leadership requires
China will not need to outgun us. Russia will not need to hack us.
If we keep graduating students who cannot tell truth from fiction, they will not have to lift a finger. We will take care of the collapse ourselves.
The Choice Is Ours. And It Begins Closer to Home Than We Think.
Here’s the truth most people don’t want to hear. This is not something we can fix with a single law or a political win.
This is a cultural problem. It is a habit problem. And those habits begin where we live.
If you are a parent, a teacher, a mentor, or even just a neighbor, you are already on the front lines.
The way you talk to young people, the way you help them wrestle with complex ideas, and the way you model curiosity and wisdom.
Below are some things you can do to shape our future.
Ask your child what they’re reading.
Talk about an ethical dilemma at the dinner table.
Teach them how to question what they see on social media.
Replace one hour of passive scrolling with a real conversation.
These may sound like small gestures. They are not. These are the tools that keep a democracy from unraveling. These are the habits that protect a civilization from hollowing out.
What the World Sees Depends on What We Teach
A few readers told me last week that America’s decline is already obvious to the rest of the world. They’re right. The cracks are visible.
But decline is not destiny. This country has a long history of confronting hard truths and rising from them. We’ve rebuilt before. We can do it again.
This is our moment to reclaim what made us credible in the first place.
Not just our strength, but our capacity to cultivate wisdom. Not just our institutions, but the minds and character of the people who sustain them.
The world is still watching. They have seen our dysfunction. They have seen our students slip in global rankings. Let’s give them something else to see.
Let’s give them a country that invests in its young people, not only with money, but with clarity of purpose.
A country that sees education not as a political weapon, but as a shared responsibility.
And a country that still believes the future is not something to fear. It is something to build.
Stay Sharp,
Gideon Ashwood