By Julie Depenbrock ’13
Photo by Nicole Maselli ’14/ The Lafayette
The future of America depends on the education and innovation of its young leaders, according to Vice President Joe Biden.
“I believe we are at the cusp of breakthroughs that are not just possible, but inevitable,” Biden said this past Wednesday night.
The Vice President spoke on the potential that stems from the technological advancements of the 21st century. Imagine, he began, the possibilities that would be open to a country educated in science and engineering.
“It’s never been a good bet to bet against America,” he told the crowd.
Regularly labeled an optimist, Biden insisted education and government support would keep the US a global leader, referencing the competition from Asia. “We need China to grow,” Biden said. “Their problems are immense compared to ours.”
This is the second major world leader to speak at Lafayette since Mikhail Gorbachev came in October. Biden’s speech was part of the college’s Lives of Liberty lecture series, initiated in 2007.
Biden’s roots run deep in Pennsylvania. He grew up “not far from heaven,” he said half-jokingly, referring to Scranton, Penn. His great-grandfather, State Senator Edward Francis Blewitt, class of 1875, studied engineering at Lafayette.
When Blewitt enrolled, Biden said, the country was still recovering from the devastation of the Civil War. The transcontinental railroad had just been built; the telephone and light bulb newly invented. It was a tumultuous time, but also a time of great innovation.
Like his great-grandfather, Biden said, this generation of students is coming of age at a time of “extraordinary opportunity.”
“We’ll either lead the 21st century or we will follow. There is no standing still,” he said.
Biden, convinced that the United States can be the dominant economy in the coming years, offered that the U.S. has “the most receptive environment to innovation and the most productive workers in the world.”
“That ain’t braggin’ man, that’s just fact,” he said, quoting a TV show.
But still, Millennials – 20- to 24-year-olds – face a future that is anything but certain.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has estimated that 15 percent of Americans – or 37 million – have outstanding debt from student loans, and that around two-thirds of that debt is held by those 30 and under.
When student debt surpassed $1 trillion earlier this year, politicians commenced the race to win the college vote in the election of 2012.
The United States currently ranks 16th in the world in college graduation rates; Canada is first, South Korea second. When Biden was in college, America was number one.
“How is it possible for us to lead the world in the 21st century when we rank 16th in the world?” he asked.
Innovation in renewable resources, transportation, and medicine are of the utmost importance. That is where the new jobs will be.
At Lafayette, a small liberal arts school known for its engineering curriculum, this message resonates.
“You have to have imagination. You have to ask yourself a question. Not only ‘what if we do’ … ‘what if we don’t,’” he said. “Tell me what happens if we don’t.”
