And? The problem isn't education, its how much manufacturing workers get in pay. Not everyone needs to have a college education. 'Specially if your building cars, or airplanes. Years ago, my old man worked in one of the now-closed papermills. He made a good amount of money. Education isn't everything...America has a high divide between the upper and lower classes. People who get an American masters or higher education get a world-class education. Your average person who attends highschool, community college, or maybe even college in the case of some institutions, does not get much of an education even compared to say highschool in Hungary.
The same goes for culture. America has produced wonderful culture, I love many of your authors (among my favorites) and even some of your film directors/actors. The cream is great, but the vast average of American culture is pretty terrible, as is the average social attitude towards it.
I agree with Kraken, but not the %. Can't verify it. Come to Michigan for a week or two. Its different that where you live. I find it hard to have a terrible culture. I mean, even if it isn't great...its still culture. More or less, why is there culture so poor? That is what makes America so diverse. If everywhere was a high culture zone...it'd be pretty lame.
One thing on the wire tapping... Personally, I think if they would have asked first...more people would have said yes than no. This is one of those, we didn't have a choice issues. If being able to listen to my phone convos is going to reduce the chance of terrorism by .000001%... that its good. In fact...any reduction is good.