Check out the ruthless crushing that goes on in Japanese private after-school cram schools. And some Asian parents have the same mentality about how their kids should be studying here in the US -- a miserable stressed child with no time to paly is just fine, as long as the child is getting straight As in the hardest courses.
Yes, I must admit that you're right, there. And so I think both sides can learn from one another.
But I really, REALLY think you have a problem when you've got a country full of teenagers who cannot tell time from an ordinary clock.
I mean, that's just sick. And then there are the drug problems, pants falling down, etc.
Something is wrong, and tons of compensatory blather about how "creative" we are is plainly counter-productive.