WOW, man, I'm really sad that I got too busy at work these days to read & respond.
I missed a lot.
Hehe... it seems I REALLY struck a nerve with Cicero. I really enjoyed the whole "student stringing words together while teachers applaud" thing, that's really great.
Anyhow, I know I'm not an expert in that field. I'm just some guy on the internet posting my opinion. I didn't start my post saying, "I'm a Harvard trained socio-politico-environment-business wig-wam doo-dah theorist". I'm just a dude working on assignment in China.
But, you may want to read "The World is Flat". It's an interesting book that talks about what America needs to do to try to stay competitive in the changing world.
Anyhow, I'm grateful I had so much help from folks in this thread to backup my intent. Aliantha and others really said it all for me. Thanks!
My addition to their comments....
I think it's a mistake to think that you're OK, just because you're better than the guy next to you. As a person, and as a culture, I think it's best not to compare yourself to others to see if you're OK, and just roll-over and go back to sleep. Try to stay introspective and understand what things can get better, and improve.
I probably was a bit too caustic with my "Americans are lazy" words. Hell, I hear it all the time from my co-workers here. Every time they say to me, "So, I hear that Americans only work 40 hours a week. They think 50 hours a week is a hard work week. Is that right?" My first reaction is to become defensive. But... yeah... in the end they're right.
Anyhow, I don't want to get stuck on that point, because in the end "laziness" is a subjective idea, and impossible to really debate. My point, as mentioned by others, was just to point out (my own opinions) about observations of America from the outside. I hope it was informative, or at least entertaining to everyone. I'm not saying I'm right... I'm just saying, "this is how I see it".