Dean Kamen, Manual Laborers, and You

[Racer26]

As someone who's been around FIRST since 2003, I think I'm justified in saying I've heard a good portion of Dean's speeches, and since 2003, there's been a few things I've noticed over the years, both in Dean's speeches, and those of John Abele, Woodie Flowers, Paul Gudonis, and Bill Miller too.

A recurring theme I see in the speeches of these leaders is references to "this country", and "America". This is HIGHLY offensive to those of us who come from Canada, Brazil, Israel, Australia, Germany, Turkey, Great Britain, and more. Frankly, we have no intent of helping the United States of America by participating in FIRST, though it may be a side effect. This goes hand in hand with the "It's not Nationals, its Championships" argument.

It was offensive to me, because we had travelled thousands of miles to compete, and were made to feel as though we were not even there in some cases, as though FIRST was a purely American phenomenon. If you want to grow the program such that every student on the planet has the chance to participate, you have to start THINKING with a world-centric mindset.

International teams are NOT exactly a small group at Championships. Of the 344 teams that attended championships this year, 23 of them hailed from somewhere other than the USA. Thats more than 6% of the teams there.