I'm responding to this very late, unfortunately. But maybe the preponderance of lawyers in American politics is part of the problem. Engineering or science is

I'm responding to this very late, unfortunately. But maybe the preponderance of lawyers in American politics is part of the problem. Engineering or science is a far more common background among national leaders in Europe and Asia - and this may turn out to provide a massive competitive advantage over the US in the future. Thomas Friedman in "the world is flat" mentions this possibility a few times. I voted for Barak, and I'm happy to have him as my president. But actions speak a lot louder than words. If this immensely popular president is a lawyer who encourages kids to be engineers, the kids will who admire him will want to become lawyers who encourage people to be engineers.