That’s some deep thinking there, Einstein.

Brooks is a New York Times columnist whom I agree with once every six months or so. He is usually referred to as a moderate conservative when it comes to political viewpoint.

Monday’s column tackled the difference between Americans and Chinese with respect to future outlook. Brooks bemoans the fact that Americans are jaded and pessimistic, and he seems somewhat jealous that the Chinese are hopeful.

Not a very challenging Op/Ed to write. Here’s the gist of his argument, which includes some obvious observations as well as one bizarre statement:

The Chinese, though members of a famously old civilization, seem to possess some of the vigor that once defined the U.S. The Chinese are now an astonishingly optimistic people. Eighty-six percent of Chinese believe their country is headed in the right direction, compared with 37 percent of Americans.

The Chinese now have lavish faith in their scientific and technological potential. Newsweek and Intel just reported the results of their Global Innovation Survey. Only 22 percent of the Chinese believe their country is an innovation leader now, but 63 percent are confident that their country will be the global technology leader within 30 years. The majority of the Chinese believe that China will produce the next society-changing innovation, while only a third of Americans believe the next breakthrough will happen here, according to the survey.

The Cultural Revolution seems to have produced among the Chinese the same sort of manic drive that the pioneer and immigrant experiences produced among the Americans. The people who endured Mao’s horror have seen the worst life has to offer and are now driven to build some secure footing. At the same time, they and their children seem inflamed by the experience of living through so much progress so quickly.

OK, allow me to unpack a bit. First, I would really like to have read those survey questions. Exact language is important. For example, I would expect positive answers from Chinese nationals on generic questions about the economy, the basic direction of development, even science and technology. Based on the last 15 years or so, who wouldn’t answer positively?

However, ask about pollution, or corruption, or food safety, and I suspect that you would get a different answer.

Second, timing is kind of important, isn’t it? Just last year, the economy almost completely melted down, and the epicenter was the U.S. No matter what happens, I would guess that Americans’ feelings about the future would be impacted by that. I wonder what those survey numbers looked like in 2007?

Third, a lot of money is being spent on science and technology in both the U.S. and China. However, that spending is relatively new to China, is very conspicuous, and the government takes great pains to publicize the role that S&T will play in economic development.

Compare that to the evisceration of America’s educational system (just look at California’s public schools) to see what’s going on in the U.S. Brooks isn’t wrong on this point, but he fails to explain why. As a conservative, I suppose it’s not cool to talk about government action and expenditure of funds.

The Chinese don’t have more “faith” in their innate scientific abilities. They just know that the country is trying to develop those capabilities, and they assume that this attention should lead to some positive outcomes. In the U.S., nobody seems to care, or at least they are not putting much of a premium on this stuff. In California, it’s more important that property taxes remain low than it is for kids to get a good education. Makes me pessimistic, I can tell you that. To the extent that Brooks’ column tackles the issue of American short-sightedness, I totally agree with him on that point.

Fourth, as to this statement:

The Cultural Revolution seems to have produced among the Chinese the same sort of manic drive that the pioneer and immigrant experiences produced among the Americans.

What the *$@^ is he talking about? Seriously, I don’t understand that comment, or the following observation that because times were tough/crazy in the 1970s, everyone who lived through it is somehow spurred to build a better future.

That is complete drivel. I find that young people, who have experienced nothing more than strong economies in their lifetimes, are much more positive and upbeat than the older folks. The latter are not dour and pessimistic, as a rule, but neither do they have that ingrained attitude that life is always going to improve over time.

Kind of reminds me of Americans who lived through the Great Depression. The experience often resulted in folks that were responsible, thrifty, and hard working. It did not, however, produce attitudes that the future was necessarily going to be a bright and shiny place. If anything, this generation was one of realists.

I probably shouldn’t have spent so much time on this post. Nothing he said there was particularly astounding, in a good or bad way. However, the combination of ridiculous nostalgic rhetoric about America’s “pioneer” spirit and a weird take on the Cultural Revolution kind of pissed me off.

Life is not about whether we have “faith” in the system or not. It usually has more to do with whether we have a job, our kids are healthy, and if we have enough money to feed our family dinner tonight; if the government is actually trying to do things to help us, that can make us a bit more optimistic.