This shouldn’t be news. I grew up in Texas and most of my high school’s top 8% were cheating to stay ahead. Older siblings handed down tests and kids snuck into classes to steal exams.
At my university most kids I knew cheated. Having done the work honestly - lots of classmates would ask if they could glimpse my answers during exams.
In my naivety I believed that there would be somewhat of a comeuppance but no they’re just as successful (and some even more!) than I. When the outcomes are extreme, people will do anything to stay ahead.
Most Americans are honest hard working people. Don’t be them is the hard lesson I’ve learned.
Interesting! My experience was the opposite: every instance of cheating I saw turned out bad, save one plane geometry fake construction, and a physical chemistry class where the building janitor potentially stole copies of tests.
This is a downstream effect of credentialism. Considering the cognitive decline of the generation soon to enter universities and the work force, it's going to get worse.
Not surprised. Every relationship in America is transactional. Work is cut throat especially at stacked ranking companies. This country is basically a social Darwinian hellhole. Friendships here seem try and extract the most value from others.
I have an incredibly close circle of friends thankfully.
Empire maintenance is hard. USAID was a form of soft power that prevented the necessary use of blunt force.
Given the rhetoric against China, the consolidation of power and rise of nationalistic fervor. I suppose we’re just a few years from war with China. Presumably under a false flag operation ala Gulf of Tonkin style.
Historically you pretty much have to wait for the institutions to over extend itself before an opportunity arises for means reversion. Fascism can never be satisfied with the status quo- it must take actions for actions sake. The enemy is always inferior yet all encompassing. Fascists will always lose in a war of equals because the longer they stay in power the further they stray from reality.
This is pure cope. Brand loyalty will do nothing against the Chinese car companies. American car companies relied heavily on tariffs and import limits to compete with Japanese car companies.
The Chinese don’t have a gun to their heads so we can’t make them sign a plaza accord 2.0.
Why not do something you care about? I started a company recently making apps for comic book collectors and it’s been more fulfilling than anything else I’ve done.
At my university most kids I knew cheated. Having done the work honestly - lots of classmates would ask if they could glimpse my answers during exams.
In my naivety I believed that there would be somewhat of a comeuppance but no they’re just as successful (and some even more!) than I. When the outcomes are extreme, people will do anything to stay ahead.
Most Americans are honest hard working people. Don’t be them is the hard lesson I’ve learned.