This is such a good observation. One has to look for complicated questions and answers, not black and white. I can say from my own experience that one of the reasons why children in US schhols don´t try as hard as they do in Poland is that n the US people can have fairly good lives wthout great education (that is changing I think), whereas in Poland if one doesn´t get great education, the options are limited. In Poland also, one doesn´t get many second chances either, while in the US it´s easier to go back to school. So people in Poland know that they have to work very hard and that they will face a lot of competition.

Also, the society is more authoritative, where kids are sometimes forced to do things.

Overall, I think that we have to solve our problems in the west without sacrificing our freedom and democracy, because despite all the problems with education that we have in the US, children here are more confident, more assertive, more independent thinking, even if they know less about the world. And these are skills with which we can solve our problems.

Isn´t Texas in the U.S.? And isn´t the U.S. a secular country? As far as I know, people in the U.S. have freedom of religion, and NOT being a Christian is part of this freedom. One of the principal ideas of creating the U.S. was to have the freedom to practice a religion as one pleased.

 Brilliant Barba!  You get an "A" for paying attention in class today! 

An Islamic group based in New York said that a recent episode of “South Park,” the satirical animated series, insulted the Prophet Muhammad.

“We have to warn Matt and Trey that what they are doing is stupid, and they will probably wind up like Theo van Gogh for airing this show. This is not a threat, but a warning of the reality of what will likely happen to them.”

Muslim Group Warns ´South Park´

and then why christians cant practice or express their rights? if it is a free country why at schools they are not allowed to teach creationism? why if we live in the free western society our children must be mocked for saying that God created the world both by children and teachers? why darwinism is the only option to be taught at schools? so where is your so called freedom? it is a freedom when it fits you, right?

btw, who said US is a secular society? was its foundation really secular? Since when being a non secular is such a problem?

US was established exactly on christian principals. fundamentalist christians such as puritans, anabaptists fled from persecutions in europe. so what are you talking about? it gradually turned secular centuries later.

I think the concept of what "religious freedom" is in the US has changed drastically and will continue to change.  When settlers first came here they just wanted freedom to practice "their" religion...not all religions.  The natives where considered heathons and trying to convert them was an important issue.  The first settlers didn´t say..."oh, look at those people worshiping the great spirit, how nice!"  Need I remind you that women who had any knowledge of herbal remedies or acted strangely where put on trial as witches...many executed.  If the "New World" was truely a bastion of religious freedom from its inception...don´t you think that worshiping satan (or even the idea of it) would fall into the catgory of religious freedom?  When my Italian and Irish relatives came to the US in search of a better life, they were shunned because they were Catholics and not Protestant (which the US was predominately prior to the last 1800s or so).  Anyway, I digress....freedom is a changing concept and is only relevant to the current cultural norms.  Currently, being religious means that you are backward and that there must be something terribly wrong with you if you believe in anything other than the cultural norm.  Just remember, there will come a time when this thinking will be unfashionable as well. 

That is of course very true, but to be fair, it is less so in the US then anywhere else in the world. All over the world, people pay high price to be allowed even a small difference then the cultural norm..

I never got the big deal behind gay marriage. Just because you give your neighbor the choice, it´s not like YOU have to get married to somebody of the same sex. If two consenting adults feel like they want to marry eachother, then what is the big deal?

 It´s really not a big deal.  It is just a political tool used to insence the public to a cause that they know will distract everyone from what the real issues are....like the fact that unemployment is still high, the deficit is in the trillions, ect...  Politicians use these hot button topics to stir the viseral reactions of the ignorant masses. 

I think there are several issues that need to go away:

1.  Abortion:  If you don´t want one, don´t get one

2.  Gay marriage:  nobody is forcing anyone to marry someone from the same sex - Get over it

3.  Gun control:  Again...if you don´t want one, don´t get one

That´s my thought anyway. 

I agree, except for #3.. because if your neighbor has a gun, he/she may use it on you, which they won´t do with abortion or gay marriage.

On second thought, I totally agree All these are distractors from real issues..

Peoples are social entities thats why they built up nations thus they are affected from eachother, i think thats the deal...