I’ve been reading Sonic Boom: Globalization at Mach Speed by Gregg Easterbrook, which has me feeling better in many ways about the world we live in. Easterbrook explains that despite the recent global recession, the future of humankind is definitely on an upswing: No matter how crazy and chaotic events become, with each passing year, the world likely will be a better place than at any point in the past. Here’s one of the main reasons:
Women Will Double The World’s Supply of Ideas
In Western nations, women’s education levels and personal freedom already are on track to equal men’s; in much of the developing world, this could happen in the next two generations. Throughout history most women have been denied a fair shot at contributing to research, engineering, business-management, and leadership roles. As this changes, there will be twice as many people applying their brainpower to the world’s problems.
Easterbrook doesn’t use the “F-word”, but his message is clear: feminism’s work is far from done…but there’s no doubt it will pay off.
Well… speaking from a “woman in a man’s profession” perspective, the barriers here are more than formal. Like yes, one can be, as a woman, the kind of person who can contribute to those fields, but you are always prevented from contributing at 100% by the Summers fallacy, it seems to me – the vague sense among the men in the room that obviously you’d rather not be there and obviously you might not have the same aptitudes.
Hi All~~~
This post reminds me of “Three Cups of Tea,” which I just finished reading a couple of weeks ago.
I loved that Greg Mortenson’s ultimate realization was that to change the world one village at a time, the best results for his efforts came from educating girls who had been traditionally discriminated against. When girls are educated, they stay in their local areas, benefiting their villages and families, whereas boys tend to leave and work in more urban areas. Women are left behind to effect change and to insist on education for their children.
Education and access to health care (contraceptive, prenatal, childhood and adult healthcare) were the two most important elements for improving people’s quality of life. Ms Clinton delivers basically the same messages in many of her speeches.
My post-election sense of 50% optimism has faded and I am back in my usual state of pessimism. I agree, though, if the world is going to change for the better, it’s women who will change it.
gogobooty:
That makes me think of the Red Cross asking women to come and collect food because women are less likely to riot, more likely to share the food and less likely to sell it on the black market.