[TheBattman]

“...better educated than Americans.”

That’s really not a true statement. Russia, like most non-US nations, exercises a great deal more control over education... and not everyone goes to college/Univesity. Not everyone gets a “free” education, regardless of ability, desire, behavior, intellect... Lots of “merit” (or who you know and your bank account) in education beyond what we might consider “middle school”. Tracking of students is still a big thing there - the brightest are channeled one way, and the “labor-type” are funneled another.

Actual illiteracy is startlingly high in Russia (as a whole) for a supposed First-World nation.

[Governor Dinwiddie]

Interesting. Probably half our college students should have been put on a trades track instead. I remember when Sputnik was launched, there was a HUGE panic that the American educational system had to catch up. Very few college students today are academically oriented or curious.

We also have a race problem in America where popular culture makes it "cool" to ape a certain race, and their disdain for education in particular.