I was on the board of a Charter school in the Bronx and volunteered to make the school's brochure, which would serve the dual purpose of appealing to the neighborhood and potential donors. I was very proud of the piece and asked other members of the board for feedback. One member, a professor at a New York University made an observation about a bunch of quotes on education. She asked if I could put in more quotes by minorities. She went on to suggest Nelson Mandela and as she was making her point it hit me—in his country Mandela is the majority. Did this term shift from a numeric meaning to something else?

I thought about that scene last week when it was announced that of all children one year old and younger, 50.4% are minorities.

While there are several narratives about this, I hardly heard anyone talk about the economic implications. The fact is the news should have sparked calls to unleash greatness among these would-be minorities. Instead, the powers that be still kind of treat this situation like Ralph Ellison's "The Invisible Man" published in 1952. The challenges and implications to the nation can be swept under the rug but are anything but invisible. Yet both political parties treat the situation with kid-gloves and apathy. On one hand is the notion of giving hand outs and placating, on the other hand is the notion of complete indifference.

In both cases, there must be greater demand for excellence.

Of course when the left says requirements to have identification are racist, we are dealing with the highest form of coddling imaginable. It's not unlike trying to make Ebonics an official language rather than insisting every American master English (at least our version of English). On the flip side, when Republicans argue against spending $1.5 billion for summer jobs and in the same breathe explain why trillions of dollars have to be spent to promote democracy and capitalism in foreign nations. It's time to drop the politically correct premise and understand it's time to demand more from everyone.

It's about more than money, especially welfare, but laptops in schools would be great. On that note, I would block certain websites because I don't think it's fair or smart to take taxpayer money to give people access to www.youtube.com all day. There has to be more accountability from parents and teachers and the students themselves. Instill pride, and remove woe-is-me by focusing on the past, but mostly on the future. Promote patriotism rather than anti-American programs and attitudes. And demand people do great and not let anyone give a half hearted effort because their great-great-great grandfather was a slave or their mother died while the family entered the nation.

There are a lot of narratives in the population story but there is also a clarion call that too many are afraid to scream or hear. It's time for government to stop promoting food stamps and start promoting business, engineering, and IT degrees. And it's time for so-called civil rights organizations to stop promoting victimization and look to the great promise of America. Summer jobs are a drop in the bucket against a backdrop of stupid spending-it can be a legit investment if coupled with education on how to handle money and a sense the program isn't owed to anyone but a great idea to help everyone.

Part of the decline of Western Europe and Japan is the fact their population is old and birth rates are low. It means they will depend on immigrants that in some cases refuse to assimilate or hold grudges and are still treated like second class citizens (see Japan). I checked the census for New Amsterdam and the thing is America has worked as a melting pot from the beginning, although there have been very painful periods.

It matters because the majority will still be the majority and will have to carry the heavy load of helping America remain the number one nation in the world.

It's time for everyone to step up to the plate and live up to individual potential because that's how the nation gets stronger and stays number one. This is a huge economic story.

Yesterday's Session

At least we got a dead cat bounce, and take my word for it, going into the weekend that wasn't a guarantee. Moreover, to see the market up as the Facebook meltdown continued was even more impressive. Yesterday was the best day of the year for the NASDAQ, led by Apple and other fan favorites that struggled in the vacuum of the Facebook hype. But a dead cat bounce is easy. The market needs to follow through today with something positive. By the way, I do find it interesting that while we are seeking growth through external demand (sort of ceding there is no clue how to spark domestic demand), America's two largest rivals are looking to stoke their domestic economies.

China announced it would provide some stimulus and focus on its domestic economy and Germany is ready to dance with inflation in its bid to reward its workers.

In Germany, the largest and most powerful union won a 4.3% wage increase over the next 13 months, the biggest increase since 1992. Coupled with a public sector wage increase of 6.3% and cabinet member hike of 5.7%, Germans are being rewarded for success. I'm not an advocate for dishing out goodies to union workers as a perk of the ruling class, but I think in Germany it goes beyond politics. The fact is in America we are pushing policies that reward people for not working while punishing people that attain a certain degree of success. Our stimulus plan was a payoff to unions. Now we need a payoff to the rest of the nation.

In order to make that happen, we must unlock the potential of the market.