An interesting analogy Rapaire, and believe me, I wish you well. But Sputnick represented that the Russians were ahead in one area, physics & rocket science. Happily, the increase in education spending (and respect) spread quite widely, into other fields and crossing borders.

But... ...one area where the Russians were behind and stayed behind was biology. This was due to the fact that Darwinism (and Mendelian genetics) was seen as contrary to Marxism. So they went with Lysenko; the result was Russian crop failures, while North American wheat flourished. This was at least as important as the arms race in scotching the Russian Empire.

Soo... ...I hope you get the increased education, but not the Sarah Palin variety!