A century ago, America's greatest minds were inventing and building some of the most useful things we now take for granted. Some of these include the automobile, the telephone, movies, etc. All the young folks were eager to join the ranks of companies that propelled America and technology forward.
In modern times, many people are drawn to industries that build software and not hardware or physical things. Many people either work on code or work at place that has people working on code. This isn't necessary a bad thing since software can be a multiplier of efficiency. The problem is a lot of our generation's greatest minds are being wasted design and developing newer and better ways to generate ads and get people to click on them. Even worst is some of these minds are being used to build software that's destroying our democracy through feeding people propaganda and creating division among them.
Even creative minds (non-techie) aren't immune either. Many are employed to write clickbait articles in hopes of blasting ads at people. The big tech companies are draining great minds from the arts, sciences and physical engineering with their big salaries. People who otherwise would be building/inventing new things, creating new culture (books, movies, art, etc) and making new discoveries are locked away in these big companies.
It might be too late to save our generation's greatest minds but future generations can be saved. America needs to incentivize and nurture future raising stars so they head into the direction of building things, whether its art, inventions or discoveries. America as a whole would greatly benefit and its future would be secured if we can save future bright minds from getting into industries that generate ads, clickbait, or digital pyramid schemes.