Oregon as a frontier state in globalization

 Let’s think of ourselves as a frontier state in the wild west of globalization. Let’s send our young out into the world as Oregon trailblazers.

 

I am not usually a fan of Rupert Murdock. I do not like the political slant of his newspapers and broadcasting enterprises. But I did find some thoughtful advice in his opening lecture of the Boyer Lectures, the first of five given in Australia, titled “Aussie rules: bring back the pioneer.” The transcript is here and the video is below.

 

He is giving advice to Australians on their future. Two themes are significant and relevant to Oregonian: (1) Bring back your pioneer spirit, and (2) Pay attention to the growing global middle class, especially in China and India. Both are sound advice for us in Oregon.

 

Oregonians have lost touch with their frontier mentality or pioneer spirit. When I talk to legislators or educators about the need to get our young out into the global world, learning new languages and exploring new markets, I get the sense that many think I’m crazy, or, at best, simply impractical. I think most of them have not thought deeply about the world our children will live in, the one in which China’s economy is twice as large as the US economy. But more fundamentally, as Murdoch reminds me, they have probably lost touch with their frontier mentality or pioneer spirit. For them life has become too safe and too comfortable. They have become too complacent. Life for them seems a little to0 predictable and without hazards. I do not think they often try to recall the spirit of the pioneers that settled Oregon, or Australia, nor do they acknowledge the perils of our time.They have forgotten the past and do not think seriously of the future, while the world today is closer to the world of the Oregon pioneers as they summoned the desperate visions and energy to leave the East for the West than to the Ozzie-and-Harriett world of the recent past.

 

Murdoch puts it this way:

Australia will not succeed in the future if it aims to be just a bit better than average. Specifically, I believe that we need to revive the sense of Australia as a frontier country, and to cultivate Australia as a great center of excellence. Unlike our parents and grandparents, this new frontier has little to do with the bush or the outback. Today the frontier that needs sorting is the wider world, and complacency is our chief enemy.

 

The frontier for Oregon’s young is the wider world. We need to send our young Oregon trailblazers out on their 21^st century adventures to learn new languages, explore new markets, and connect back to us in Oregon. Our survival and prosperity depend upon it.

 

Murdoch’s second significant piece of advice is a familiar theme of mine: pay attention to the growing global middle class, especially in China and India: He puts it like this:

In sheer numbers, the emergence of India and China as economic powers and the wealth that they are creating is accompanied by a rise of a new middle class. Over the next 30 years or so, two or three billion people will join this new global middle class. The world has never seen this kind of advance before. These are people who have known deprivation. These are people who are intent on developing their skills, improving their lives and showing the world what they can do. (minute 20:45).

 

And, on learning foreign languages, he says:

Our leading trade partners are the great nations of Asia, not mother England. European languages are generally less functional for our children than Chinese, Japanese, and Indonesian—though I'd put in a special word for Spanish for its utility in Latin America and the United States. (minute 12:55)

 

Comments

[Colin Crocker]

Dave- great posting. I especially agree with the idea that we need to revitalize our pioneering spirit . We can't be afraid to move to the proverbial "West" where innovative solutions to addressing the lack of language speakers in Oregon (and the US) are concerned.

[Nathan Nice]

Wow,an American who's pro-globalization! I guess you still have your job,congratulations.News flash,when the pioneer spirit comes back it will be because traitors like all of you have been crossed off a list. Your children have it so easy? Only a baby boomer could have that caliber of audacity. Your entire lives have been a dream taken out of a romance novel. Every year better than the last. My generation knows no reality of that nature. Every year it just gets worse thanks to traitor parents, a lot like YOU. You all landed your first good jobs while buying your first home while partying in massive drug induced orgies just to tell my generation we have to pee in a cup for scraps less then you all made 30 years ago. The nerve! Hell on earth is coming for you all. The clock is ticking. Anyone who is pro-globalization needs to shut there mouth and fast. People can only take so much.

[pandora]

Our leading trade partners are the great nations of Asia, not mother England.

[louboutin]

Australia will not succeed in the future if it aims to be just a bit better than average.

[christian louboutin]

In sheer numbers, the emergence of India and China as economic powers and the wealth that they are creating is accompanied by a rise of a new middle class.

[Pandora Charms]

Specifically, I believe that we need to revive the sense of Australia as a frontier country, and to cultivate Australia as a great center of excellence. Unlike our parents and grandparents, this new frontier has little to do with the bush or the outback. Today the frontier that needs sorting is the wider world, and complacency is our chief enemy.