The biggest threat to America’s cultural and economic dominance is our winner take all system.
We have succeeded because we nurture talent. Talent is what dominates the world economy in a cloud-based world. Talent must be nurtured if it’s to turn potential into reality. There is no limit to how much talent a cloud-based economy can absorb.
Talent needs comfort. Talent needs to focus on itself. Talent needs freedom.
Anyone who studies talent in any sphere will tell you this. So will all talented people. They will say that their parents let them dream, that their schools nurtured their potential, that their first bosses mentored them. They will talk a lot about patience.
You don’t know where talent will come from, or when it will form. You can’t just focus on those who display talent at a young age. Some take time to find their talent. Matt Turner, who will play in goal for the U.S. team in next month’s World Cup, wasn’t drafted after college. In soccer mad countries like Brazil, he wouldn’t have gotten a chance.
This is America’s secret sauce.
But it’s this secret sauce that has been watered down for decades as we push more rewards to those who have proven themselves. Billionaires are not nurturing the next class of billionaires. They’re wasting their money seeking to glorify themselves and guarantee their power.
We have a childcare crisis. We have an education crisis. We have a shortage of mentors. We fail to reward the people who nurture the next generation of billionaires if just given comfort and time.
That’s why so many of our billionaires today are coming from the ranks of millionaires. It’s why too many of our media personalities are the children of media personalities. We’re leaving talent on the talent.
Immigrants will work extra hard, going the extra mile to nurture their children and explore their talent. Too many American success stories today are immigrants. Parents who sacrifice for their children, children who sacrifice themselves to justify their parents’ sacrifice. Nothing wrong with it, we just need to nurture those born here as well. We’re also shutting the door to immigrants.
Nurturing everyone will guarantee success. Those who don’t become big successes can still nurture the next generation. But we have been systematically killing that off this century, just as it becomes essential to our success and progress.
The only reason this hasn’t become a crisis yet is because every other country is worse at it. We need to get off our assets and put more money into our people, or we’ll all be left behind. A nurturing society will beat one based on winner take all.
