One-in-three Americans fail on current events
By Steve Benen Monday Aug 18, 2008 4:00pmThe latest Pew Survey on News Consumption, which is conducted every other year, was released yesterday, and is chock full of interesting tidbits and results. Most notably, there was a great section of the report on news-consumer knowledge and sophistication.
About half of Americans (53%) can correctly identify the Democrats as the party that has a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. In February 2007, shortly after the Democrats gained control of the House after a dozen years of GOP rule, many more people (76%) knew the Democrats held the majority.
The public is less familiar with the secretary of state (Condoleezza Rice) and the prime minister of Great Britain (Gordon Brown). About four-in-ten (42%) can name Rice as the current secretary of state. The public’s ability to identify Rice has not changed much over recent years: In April 2006 and December 2004, shortly before she was sworn in, 43% could correctly identify her.
The prime minister of Great Britain is not well known among the public. Just more than a quarter (28%) can correctly identify Gordon Brown as the leader of Great Britain.
Overall, 18% of the public is able to correctly answer all three political knowledge questions, while a third (33%) do not know the answer to any of the questions.
I’ll admit, I’m torn about how humiliating this is to the nation overall. For the typical American not to know Gordon Brown strikes me as only mildly distressing — Brown has only been Prime Minister for about a year, and most of the public was probably more familiar with Tony Blair.
But one-in-three Americans got all of the questions wrong. For all the talk about the Democratic Congress, barely half the country knows there’s a Democratic majority.
Maybe my perspective is skewed because I just finished reading Rick Shenkman’s “Just How Stupid Are We?” but at a certain point, the political world is going to have to come to grips with the fact that a striking percentage of the electorate has no idea what’s going on.
As for the other results from the Pew survey, it was also interesting to note which news consumers did better than others.
From the report:
Regular readers of magazines such as The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and Harper’s Magazine stand out for their political knowledge; almost half (48%) can correctly identify Rice, Brown and the majority party in the U.S. House of Representatives. NPR listeners rank closely behind, with 44% of regular listeners registering a high knowledge score. More than four-in-ten regular Hardball (43%) and Hannity & Colmes (42%) viewers also score relatively high for political knowledge.
In general, well-educated news audiences have high levels of political knowledge; for instance, 54% of regular readers of publications such as The New Yorker, The Atlantic and Harper’s Magazine are college graduates, as are 54% of regular NPR listeners. However, a greater proportion of regular readers of business magazines are college graduates (60%), but just 36% answered all three political knowledge questions correctly.
Just a third of regular Rush Limbaugh listeners are college graduates, but this audience scored as well on political knowledge as did regular business magazine readers. Similarly, only about three-in-ten (31%) regular Hannity & Colmes listeners are college graduates, but a relatively large proportion (42%) answered all three questions correctly.
Some highly knowledgeable and attentive news audiences - such as The New Yorker’s, Limbaugh’s, Hannity & Colmes’ or Hardball’s - are older than average. However, age is not always a correlate of political knowledge: the CBS Evening News has one of the oldest audiences of the news outlets included on the survey; 63% of the regular viewers of this program are 50 or older. But just 10% of regular CBS News viewers correctly answered the three questions.
The Colbert Report and The Daily Show are notable for having relatively well-informed audiences that are younger than the national average: 34% of regular Colbert viewers answered the three political knowledge questions correctly, as did 30% of regular Daily Show viewers. Less than a quarter of either audience is older than 50 (22% Colbert, 23% Daily Show), compared with 41% of the general public.
Now, I found this particularly interesting because four years ago, Fox News viewers were the most confused about current events, especially when it came to subjects such as weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and Saddam Hussein “working closely” with al Qaeda. Viewers of “The Daily Show” were among the best informed at the time.
So, have things changed? I kind of doubt it — these Pew questions were easier and covered non-controversial subjects. My hunch is, had Pew asked more about subjects relating to Republican talking points, those Fox News viewers would have done considerably worse.
Call it a hunch.
Login or Register to post comments.
And is it any wonder Obama is supposedly having trouble securing the vote of white, non-college educated folks (the same people that voted for Bush in the past two elections)? Whatever happened to 'I think, therefore I am.'?
I love America but loath stupid selfish Americans.
The earth is 8000 years old.
Lee Harvey Oswald worked solo.
Obama is a muslim.
God loves you.
Given the contempt in which a large majority of Americans hold congress I'm perfectly content when they think it's controlled by the Republicans. Let the Fox Festival of Ignorance roll on.
The president of the United States, a Yale graduate, is an imbecile. Why be shocked that his lemmings are also idiots? This is old news, and still irreversible. Oh, look. It's Branjalina's babies!
Don't worry about it, we're doing our best to ignore Gordon too.
the worst part of it all is that of those that have no clue, the great majority of them really give a shit.
sorry, meant to say that they DON'T give a shit
RickB @ 5:
Attaboy!!
"But one-in-three Americans got all of the questions wrong."
I'm surprised they did that well.
Why asked the wrong questions. They should have asked who the last three American Idol winners were, the names of the stars of all the CSI shows and when the release date for the "24" movie is.
The nincompoops have circled the wagons. There isn't a chance in hell anybody's going to penetrate their cone of ignorance.
"the political world is going to have to come to grips with the fact that a striking percentage of the electorate has no idea what’s going on."
Come to grips with it? They're exploiting it.
you find the fact that most americans don't know Gordon Brown after a year only *slightly* distressing? The leader of one of the major global powers, a major world economy and probably closest ally to the US? Maybe it's not surprising, but to say it's not distressing is a tribute to low expectations.
Although, I have to agree with RickB too...
There's no surprise here, it explains why the repubs keep getting elected more than Dems, simply because the electorate is stupid and the repubs recognize it and cater to it, where as the Dems don't/won't deal with it. Doesn't it strike anyone else that "every repub whose been President since johnson should/could have been tried for treason?
Obsesity rates are rising in America.
So...we're fat AND stupid.
this is what the repugs want, a stupid fearful nation.
this is why i'm ashamed of my country, three questions pertaining to america, that 90% of the rest of the world could answer correctly, yet barely 50% can answer here
Nobody has ever gone broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public. --P.T. Barnum
True then, truer now. The Neocons have gotten rich.
Many Brits will tell you that Gordon Brown is not leading them.
I hav dacided to rite this sentunce the way that childrin in our scools r bean tewt to. By soundng out the wrds nd gessing how they shuld b spelt.
For some reason, I can only think of this:
"You are stupid! You are stupid! You are stoooooopid! And in case you forget... YOU ARE STUPID!"
-Dexter to Deedee in Dexter's Lab
I thought the GOP had not only come to grips with it, but taken full advantage of it...
mike @ 13:
Also explains that preznit approval rating that just doesn't drop much below 25%. I say let's double the price of gasoline again and see if we can wake anyone else up.
This is why I don't understand why some people are so confident of an Obama win. The ignorant and stupid are easily swayed by the lazy thinking and ideas espoused by the right. Of course, I suppose it's possible that the 33% who could not answer any of the questions correctly are also people who can't be bothered to vote. One can only hope.
Rick @ 16:
But the questions weren't fair! None of them had anything to do with American Idol or Big Brother.
Phonics and Civics. Most Americans likely think they are cartoon characters.
And this suprises us? My fellow C&Lers have always complained how many Americans are dumbasses. Hell, Americans don't even know where Iraq is on the map! Supreme Court Justices? Who are they? I have been teaching my daughters about the government since they were able to talk. They can name all the Justices and our representatives in PA. In our society its money and fame is the most important thing, it is a shame how we are letting the future generation down.
Well the test explains why McCain is clueless as he has alot of company. Now I have to take up for those who didn't know about Connie being Secretary of State. She has the title but doesn't do the job. Cheney gives her messages to take back and forth. One only need to read about her visit with the Asian leaders when she first got appointed. The Chinese paper reported all she was worth was playing the piano. Each visit to a Foreign Leader that Connie has made she is just bringing instructions from the White House. Powell just knew how to cover up the lies he was telling when he was Secretary of State. Yes when the news came out that the White House had lied Powell did his best to act like he wasn't part of the inside job. Later he apologized and slipped away into the sunset until Obama became the Democratic Nominee. Yes both Connie and Powell will use the race card to get a job with Obama if he becomes President. Let's hope the non experienced Senator doesn't fall for it.
Why this be surprising?
“We are grateful to the Washington Post, The New York Times, Time Magazine and other great publications whose directors have attended our meetings and respected their promises of discretion for almost forty years. It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for the world if we had been subjected to the lights of publicity during those years. But, the world is now more sophisticated and prepared to march towards a world government. The supranational sovereignty of an intellectual elite and world bankers is surely preferable to the national auto-determination practiced in past centuries." ~ David Rockefeller at Bilderberg Meeting in Baden-Baden, Germany 1991
America - the shining city on the hill.
Ugggh. Yeah...built on a foundation of shit.
Liberal AND Proud @ 14:
Now all we need is "drunk" for the Dean Wormer hat-trick.
Lyon @ 20:
I thought of this:
"Calling you stupid is an insult to stupid people!"
-Jaime Lee Curtis in A Fish Called Wanda
We are a nation of morons...but I bet 35% can name you at least one starter on every nba team, how many gold medals we have in china, at least ONE winner of American Idol, etc, etc.
Looney tunes! We're #1
johnbpt @ 30:
Does having a drunk in the White House count?
Imagine a single breast. The areola is the attentive public, and the milk duct is the partisans. The rest is just inattentive people who don't care and don't want to care.
By the way... I'm sick of people saying liberals are intolerant.
AMERICA! Luv it or leaf it.
Liberal AND Proud @ 25:
Civics aren't cartoon characters - they're cars made by Honda, silly!
EJA @ 35:
LOL! Well done.
Gretchen @ 24:
No offense, Gretchen, but I wonder how many of the epic fails on the Pew Survey can quote scripture, chapter & verse.
My guess is that the following question wasn't even on the test:
Which country is the US's biggest trading partner? ... and who is the current political leader of that country?
"One-in-three Americans fail on current events"
And even Crooks and Liars could use some classroom time--grammar and punctuation class at least. For starters, there should be no hyphens in this headline. That's just one of at least five errors by the writer of this.
I know, I know. That's nit-picking when compared to not knowing current events, but a web site held in high esteem by a lot of the blogging world should have higher standards in its own editing.
Thing is, I'm not so sure in all cases that this is purely about stupidity. I know some young, smart people who wouldn't be able to answer all the questions (and may in fact get all 3 wrong). The reason is that they feel completely powerless when it comes to politics, like their opinions wouldn't matter anyway so they put no effort into having them.
Now, I admit, this would be called a stupid opinion by some, but it doesn't change the fact that I think some of the issue is not stupidity, it is disenfranchisement.
Doesn't help that at this time, we managed to express our opinions enough to give Congress to the Democrats and still Bush is allowed to do whatever he wants. Honestly, my opinion doesn't really seem to be mattering very much right now.
Thinking Person @ 40:
My typos are because I think faster than I type. Dyslexia...the mark of genius. ; 0 )
No wonder we have a fracking idiot for a president and grampi mc same is close in the poll.s
-k
Hey, but at least we're better than Mexico in geography!
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/11/1120_021120_GeoRoperSurv...
Old news.. but still. Anyone still think "Czechoslovakia" was still a gaffe on McCain's part?
Being a "foreign policy expert" in the USA - like being the top of the special ed class.
Andy K Jong Il @ 38:
No offense taken. Plenty of them would be my guess. Too many people use their faith as an excuse for ignorance and, unfortunately, they combine that with pride and self-righteousness.
If they really believed the scripture they quote, or knew what it means, they wouldn't be so proud of their self-imposed stupidity.
"the political world is going to have to come to grips with the fact that a striking percentage of the electorate has no idea what’s going on."
why the hell did you think republicans keep getting elected?
Of course.. if you ask a Republican, this is just 'elitist' bullshit. And if of course European kids are better at finding Afghanistan on a map since it's a neighbouring country.
Liberal AND Proud @ 19:
As a teacher, I take exception to that. First, I don't know where you live, but cite your source...and not anecdotally. I want policy--because if it's happening on a wide scale in regular education classrooms beyond, say, third grade, it would be school district policy--in writing.
Second, it's easy to oversimplify and overgeneralize about kids who spell like this and why it's happening, but what you're implying is that they're receiving inferior instruction and falling behind as a result. There are legitimate reasons for some students to approximate, however--what is commonly called "guess and go." It may be because they're beginning writers. It may be because they're identified as having a disability (in which case, this would be part of a student's Individualized Education Plan). Sounding out words and guessing at their spelling is as common among beginning writers as it is for 5-year-olds to have poor sentence structure and an absolute lack of command of English--for example, proper past tenses of verbs. The point of writing is just that--to get their point across. That's why this technique is often used with emergent writers.
That said, you're confusing a complex issue by using an overly broad generalization. I call bullshit.
i voatin fer mccane becus hees a war heerro and obomba hussein is a moslem and marksist, rev wright , and soros and such as , and borshun. DURRRrrffff!!
Two of my favorite quotes from the movies are:
From "The Departed";
"Treat 'em like mushrooms. Feed them shit and keep them in the dark".
-Sgt. Dingham, talking to the Fed in meeting
From "Shooter";
"There are no sides. There's no Sunnis and Shiites. There's no democrates and republicans. There's only have's and have nots."
-the "upstanding" Senator asking him to join the "team" on the snowcap.
Welcome to the mushroom capital of the world. They pay very, very, well to feed the mushrooms. My school tax is almost two seconds worth of Mobil-Exons profits, and rising.
My theory that "people are NOT smart" keeps on getting more and more validated.
It's also sad that many people won't vote, such as if they're afraid we elect Obama we are all "screwed" and if we elect McSame we are all "doomed".
JudyLou @ 17:
Great quote. Here's another:
Albert Einstien..." Only two things are infinite; the Universe and human stupidity,
and I'm not sure about the former."
Gretchen @ 46:
Actually, I wouldn't bet that many of them really can quote their bibles accurately. As an agnostic who HAS read the old and new testaments, I often find myself correcting god-botherers who misquote, take out of context, or simply fabricate biblical passages. Fun and extremely satisfying.
Rick @ 16:
good thing you're not michelle obama. this would be all over the msm and reicher blogs in a few seconds.
mike @ 13:
I've been embarrassed by this pitiful country many times before this. It's not a shocker. America is full of dumb fucks...starting with that worthless piece of shit occupying the White House. It's the dumb leading the dumber.
Anyone still surprised the US is in rapid decline?
Gordon Brown should start another war with Bush....maybe in Iran.....then more Americans will know who Mr. Brown is.
What does this say about the damn media in this country? If you watched the news you might know SOMETHING about the world, it would just be completely wrong, you'd know something though.
I personally think the ignorance is the fact that many people don't feel represented by either party and don't think it matters much who is in power. They might be wrong or right, but that’s the feeling from a lot of people who I talk to about these issues. They have an intuitive populist bent but are politically and economically ignorant. They fundamentally however understand far more than the "liberal" and "conservative" spokesmen they see on TV who supposedly represent and understand them (even though they don’t and know it) that the game is rigged and public opinion doesn’t matter a bit as far as policy is concerned.
The left too hasn’t done much to reach out to them, they don’t understand them and ridicule them. What, outside of voting for more power hungry representatives, can they do to effect change even if they wanted to? They COULD do things, but the liberals haven’t told them how to outside of putting all their faith in their “betters” in government, and the right wing wants them to be ignorant and sees their political activity as a threat. The liberal elites agree, but will use them if they can until they begin to assert themselves too much. Look at Brzezinski, a current Obama advisor, Samuel Hunnington and their “Crisis of Democracy” paper from the mid 1970’s. They said openly that there was too much democracy and participation by working people and something would have to be done about that.
Who's in charge of setting our education policy? Can any of you name that person or the powers that be behind that bureaucracy?
Who owns the media in this country? Can you name the companies?
Who's in charge of regulating them?
Who owns the voting machines in this country?
Who are our country's top investigative journalists?? Can you list your top five??
Is the Pew Survey a reputable company or do they have a partisan agenda like most corporations? Are there methods open source and viewable to the public? Do they poll cell phone users? Do they take into account those people that are intelligent enough to screen calls with their caller I.D.??
Answers?
Damn, who'd have thought we'd do so well? USA! USA!
jh @ 12:
This number sounds low to be honest, and yet we count on these people to vote...how many voted in 04 thinking we had actually found bombs in Iraq... http://tinyurl.com/6xr3b7
RobertD @ 49:
Well, I thought it was common knowledge (at least it seems to be among linguists) that kids always start writing stuff, not 'the way they sound' but in whatever way is regular; that is, consistent. Because that's how we learn, through observing and making generalizations. It's just that english spelling is notoriously irregular. Mostly because of the many influences (modern english is de facto a creole), but also because of silly conservatism like this (IMHO).
English could use some spelling reform. (It works. Other languages have done it.) Of course, now I'll be shouted down with counter-arguments which all tend to boil down to 1) "It looks stupid!" (after a generation they'll think the same about the old ways) or 2) "It panders to ignorance" (as if it spelling should be hard for its own sake)
But.. offtopic anyway.
johnbpt @ 54:
It would be a waste of my time to do that. I'm surrounded by thumpers of all stripes here in west Michigan. There's nothing like having the Bible thrown in your face in Dutch!
(How many Dutch Reformed in your neck of the woods, Gretchen?)
G String @ 59:
Great points.
Bill Moyers show on PBS where college and high school-educated respondents were asked to find Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Israel on a world map and only 23% of the college-educated under the age of 25 and 6% of high school-educated could find all four, despite the fact that the map they were given was labeled.
The destruction of the ability to think will destroy the planet before anything else will.
This will only get worse. How many children do you think this bottom third will spawn as opposed to the top third? It's a simple numbers game, especially when it comes to elections, and our future does not look bright. So to speak.
deathy/epl+ccs @ 42:
Good point. People are going to spend their time and effort on those activities they perceive will improve their lives in some fashion. Only those that believe they can influence politics are going to spend time understanding the system and its players.
The Rich want a society of absolute ignoramuses, drooling imbeciles and soulless technocrats who lack the sense to oppose them.
. . . a third (33%) do not know the answer to any of the questions. . .
Ah, yes. That part of the population which is still satisfied with Bush's job performance.
The dumbing down of America hasn't happened by accident. It is basically part of the slow slide into fascism - corporate elitists run the country.
- Funds for education have been used instead for endless wars
- Deregulation has allowed the media to be held and controlled by a very small group
- Mass media focuses on entertainment -Distraction
- Economic situations have deteriorated; both parents have to work - some more than
one job - so no one is home to parent/mentor the kids
- Standards in schools/colleges have been lowered
- Social welfare programs have been reduced/eliminated
- Nutrition - children who are no well fed or underfed cannot develop and learn
- Elitism has negated any social gains - haves vs. have nots
etc., etc., etc. ..........
Aged Blue Lensman @ 22:
Unfortunately, if the price of gas were to double (again), the kool-aid drinking 25 percenters would likely blame it all on those "Godless, anti-American liberals and them terrorist-loving enviromental extremists" that so hate this country and won't allow the poor bush crime family to have their way and drill holes wherever the the hell they please......don't pay no never mind to the fact that Exxon-Mobil's quarterly profits just rose to $20B.
I find it really frustrating when the actual questions asked are not included with the poll results. The results are far less meaningful without them.
It's fine to say that "n% of those polled could not name the current Secretary of State", but in order for the value of "n" to give us any real perspective, we'd need to know if the question was multiple-choice, or phrased as "Name the office currently held by Condoleeza Rice...", or a straightforward question that can solicit a binary response, like, "Can you name the current Secretary of State?", or was it, in fact, the phrased the way we would assume, "Please name the current Secretary of State...".
It would also be helpful to know the ratio between those who did not know, and those who thought they knew, but were wrong.
Admittedly, I only scanned the included links briefly, but the questions shouldn't be any harder to find in an article than the results they produced.
Liberal AND Proud @ 14:
At least we're not fat, DRUNK, and stupid. That's no way to go through life, son.
I took that poll. There were far more questions than just these 3, if I remember correctly well over 20.
Here's the sad part, these questions all pertained to current events and I'm no genius, but I scored in the top 1%.
That's right, 1%.
I was appalled because none of the questions were any more difficult than these 3.
And my vote is worth no more than the dumbasses who could't answer more than 3 or 4 correctly.
Sigh.
Alexdem @ 64:
Spelling is what it is, and yes, English is notoriously irregular. The point, though, that kids "r bean tewt to" spell incorrectly (with emphasis on the word "taught") is an absolute fallacy. No one ever "teaches" kids to spell incorrectly--that would be malpractice; akin to teaching them that a banana is an insect. Kids are encouraged to use the phonics knowledge they have--at whatever level--or whatever letter-sound knowledge they possess at that particular time--to get their ideas down on paper.
Spelling and writing (putting your thoughts into printed word) are two totally separate, unrelated skills. To take it further, just because someone spells poorly doesn't mean he/she reasons poorly. The two are unrelated.
This relates to the thread, by the way, because of our beloved St. McCain's adherence to the doctrine of "merit pay" for teachers, which is right-wing code for, "You better teach kids what we want you to teach and nothing controversial or you won't get a raise. And if those test scores don't come up, you're fired." As if testing ever taught kids a damn thing, other than how to cheat and hate school doing it.
johnbpt @ 31:
My apologies for #75. I see you beat me to the reference.
Americans are the most the most heavily propogandized people on earth. Part of the ruling class agenda is to keep them even stupider . Now ask the about new specials at McDonalds or how much money Batman is making and you get some real brain activity. The Corps loathe a knowlegable citizenry. They need consumers and poltical robots.
The pew survey doesn't even begin to uncover the truth.
well heres a current event for you just on cnn, we just started selling over a hundread deadly m1 abrahm tanks and other us equipment to the iraqys for thier oil dollars, everybody wins!
Andy K Jong Il @ 65:
None. We're just out of reach and in the heart of Amish country, and the Amish won't toss Scripture at you. Down here our republicans are more of the small town old money variety who go see church as a place to wear their new suit. If you're in the GR area I feel for you!
Not stupid - badly educated and stroked by corporate backed popular culture that discounts education and the arts in favor of simple minded television and crass materialism.
Bread and circuses - although you have to wonder what percentage of Americans will get the reference.
I have been saying this for years. The republicans count on the fact that most of the electorate are clueless when it comes to what is going on in the world. It is a fact that in the survey they were not familiar with Condelezza Rice's role as Secretary of State. It does not surprise me however that they could not name the current Prime Minister of GB given the fact that Brown has only been in office a year. Tony Blair would have been more familiar because of his close ties with Bush and the Iraq war. The right has always used this as a means to make sure that segment of our country is misinformed and clueless. This is why they keep on getting the White House. With Fausneuz at the helm they get over and make their case. I am deeply disturbed, however, by the latest ploy with this religious forum that McSame and Obama attended. McSame received applause when he was asked about Supreme Court choices and his favorites. He is clearly going to nominate more conservative judges which will create an imbalance and this country will surely be in the toliet. The court has shown its partisanship when it comes to certain issues and willing to side with the current administration to its detriment. Just recently one of the shows that deals in Law had a segment in which they were making a case in front of the Supreme Court which ended in the court getting a dressing down because of their partisanship. The attorney told the court that they were chosen to represent all of us not just the status quo. I thought that they were going to charge him with contempt but they listened. I wish someone would have the balls to do that and maybe they can be reminded that they need to preserve their independence and not cave in to partisan poliitics. The very fact that our electorate is not as smart and can be persuaded should be reason enough. When Obama was asked about his choices he addressed this issue and said as much. Maybe one of these days we will live in a country where Civics will be reinstated as a requirement and maybe we will be smarter as a whole.
I'm just guessing here, but perhaps things have been dumbed down TOO much... ya think?!
Canuknotusa @ 40:
Hey Canuk...do you remember when Rick Mercer got W on that one. Made him look real good
Gretchen @ 81:
Doesn't sound a whole lot different from the DeVoses, Van Andels and Secchias.
Gordon Brown is Prime Minister of the UK (United Kingdom),
Isn't calling Gordon Brown the Prime Minister of Great Britain like calling George Bush the president of Nebraska? Great Britain is not a sovereign nation but is only a piece of the country (sovereign nation) referred to as the United Kingdom whose official name is now the mouthful, "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". (For a quick understanding of the terminology, see the Venn diagram at en.wikipedia dot org/wiki/Image:British_Isles_Euler_diagram.svg). The correct answer would be that there is no Prime Minister of Great Britain just as there is no President of Ohio.
Peace, JK
Andy K Jong Il @ 86:
Same breed and same ideology but less money and more smugness. I had one neighbor who objected to the signs for the democrats in our yard by telling me it looked like the "pinko commie democrats" moved into neighborhood and it would probably go downhill now. I responded by telling him we were union too.
One way to eliminate the clueless!! I propose that all registered voters who wish to exercise there right to vote in this country take a test much like the ones in the Pew survey. They must pass this multiple choice test every time they regester to vote with a 70% (7 of 10) or higher in order to cast a vote. If they fail the test they don't vote. Pure and simple!
5f3yakfitguy @ 76:
Amen.
I hate to say it, but once when I was in America I was asked "Where do you come from?" I replied "London, the United Kingdom" then I was asked "Where did you learn to speak English"
Paul-UK @ 91:
Hi Paul,
You must remember that nearly 20 percent of the population in this country couldn't pour the piss out of a boot with the direction on the heal!
It's hard to remember Gordon Brown because he is just so boring. Blair was easy because he was such a slick, weaselly guy. Thatcher was a bitch, though that other, far worse, epithet is probably more appropriate. Major was boring as well, but he was so extremely boring that it actually made him stand out. Plus Major's parents were circus people, which gave his background a pizazz that the man personally lacked.
Berlusconni is a corrupt, fascist billionaire who has ruled Italy for - by the standards of Italian politics - an incredibly long time. Sarkozy - love him or hate him - is certainly a memorable guy. Every time I think of Angela Merkel, I picture her cringing as George Bush gave her that infamous shoulder rub. There have been two Canadian Prime Ministers since Chretien, but both of them have been Gordon Brown types. All Japanese Prime Ministers are typically as unmemorable as Gordon Brown, with the exception being Koizumi, the Elvis-lover with the Richard Gere haircut. The Chinese like to keep their leaders semi-anonymous: I have had no idea who is in charge over there since Deng Xaiopeng died. Putin is an evil creep, ruling through his chosen puppet: Medvedev is to Putin what Denny Hastert was to Tom Delay, an analogy that actually succeeds in making Putin look GOOD.
Big Dave @ 92:
Need I point out the irony in your comment, Big Dave? ;D
JK @ 87:
Cut 'em some slack. Maybe the survey was done by a Scandinavian. They don't have a name for the UK. That is, you could translate it of course but they wouldn't know what you were talking about without thinking about it. UK = "Storbritannien/Storbritannia" (Danish, Swedish/Norwegian)
Hmm, actually "Storbritannien" doesn't quite mean 'Great Britain', literally. They don't have fancy words like 'great'. It's "Big Britain".. lol ;)
joeedugan @ 93:
Ok Joe!,.. put away the "Old Farmer's Almanac"
My question is, how many people did they approach that were too busy with actual things to do, and didn't have time to dick around with answering their questions!?!
Wouldn't people who are sufficiently involved and aware of the events unfolding around them to know the answers to those questions, generally be too busy to take the time to actually answer those questions for a poll!?!
Paul-UK @ 91:
The Big 10 university I attended sent me a letter shortly before classes began which said my registration was being held until I took their ESL test and they had an official score for my English proficiency. The letter stated that the test was required "as you are a legal resident of New Mexico". When I went to the departmental office that issued this error, I was told by a nice lady there that I didn't have to be so concerned about taking the test because my spoken English was so good I didn't even have an accent. I had to resort to pointing the state of New Mexico out to her on a map....
So one in three Americans got all questions wrong.. Hmm, sounds like maybe 33% are just about ready to go to work for the MSM... or Faux, the outright propaganda arm of the news world... I'm going to take a wild guess it's this same 33% who would vote for Bush... twice!!! Or maybe play with matches in a burning building.. If I was a conspiracy theorist I might think, the dumbing down of this nations citizens is what we are seeing at work here.. if I was a conspiracy nut.. I might think this is the kinds of results I'd expect if an organized attempt over decades to neuter critical thinking skills in the population were happening..
Now if I was this conspiracy nut I might be further thinking.. Some people somewhere who want to lord it over others, maybe in some think tank somewhere deep in the heart of the northwest or New England, or somewheres up in the arctic in a secret fortress watching out for 007, or in that cave where they have the 'big board' and plans to shhhlauuugh-ter cattle to survive.. Maybe someone or some diabolical group with people like Dick Cheney trolling around squawking like the penguin, thought creating a generation of more subserviant citizens was a good idea and screwing up the education process was a great little vehicle to acccomplish this.... Maybe they thought we can take a dummies marbles easier than a smartalecks, especially if they are so dumb they no longer even know what a marble is....
If I was a conspiracy buff I might think they thought all this.. and that they would be wrong with that kind of thinking... The truth is, you dummy down your citizenry, you don't gain control.. You just open yourself up to being pushed around by whomever the latest international bully happens to be.. Oh, you thought the U.S. was the 'only' bully on the block and maybe needed knocked down a peg or two anyway??? Hahahah, good luck with that idea...Tell that fairy tale to the international thug who is going to take all your marbles because you are too damned stupid to stop them...
Yea... if I was a conspiracy theorist.... But I'm not, so it must be something else huh.. Something more logical, less sinister.. Some other reason we are becoming dumb as fucking post around here.... Anyone got any other ideas why that might be other than my cynical suspicions????? Got to be some reasonable reason... why an idiot like G-dub Bush can snooker his way into the wh... twice!! Anyone??? Beuhler?? whatchugot?...........JD
Andy K Jong Il @ 94:
I was attempting to be funny! ;-)
Gretchen @ 99:
Even more scary, I never attended university. But the person who asked me the question was!
Paul-UK @ 91:
Yeah, I thought a read/saw an accent... So, what did you tell them? "Oh, I don't really speak the language. I just phonetically memorize the words and phrases I hear, and mimic them back while smiling until the person goes away."
You need to see this as a win.
Based on what has happened in the last 8 years, many people overseas don't credit Americans with that much of a clue.
(yes, i am overseas)
Udon Nomee @ 103:
You funny american! No Jokey!
Udon Nomee @ 103:
Have done that in some places where you enconter that group of Americans which I belive you call "rednecks" that is a truly scary group!
"About half of Americans (53%) can correctly identify the Democrats as the party that has a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives."
I don't blame them. It's hard to tell the difference between the two.
Inventions: Television and Radio
Together THE BEST propaganda machine in the world through repetition and vulgar, unadulterated noise over the signal brain washing.
Just one thing to add. About an hour ago I heard from CNN's Bill Schneider that last month Obama had reached 58% in a poll, or a 12 point lead, but that his number has dropped and he is only leading by 3 points now!
It's all because we had that "3:00 AM crisis moment about Georgia and Russia which plays into John McCain's strong point of foreign affairs don't you know.
Really? Did you know that Obama had broken 50% yet, never mind 58%?
JudyLou @ 17:
H.L. Mencken, actually...
Paul-UK @ 106:
*sigh* Yes. It's hard to explain the 'neck phenomena. They're kinda like those guys in the handkerchief hats, suspenders, and 'Wellies (sp?) you see in those Monty Python clips, but without the charm and wit...
Udon Nomee @ 111:
Romani ite domum
I remember Gordon Brown. My family's Scottish branch is a part of Clan Gordon.
Long live FLASH GORDON!!!
Shouldn't that read, "Just how stupid is we?"
Udon Nomee @ 111:
I believe the Python characters are called 'gumbies', and virtuosity on the banjo and the ability to stomp-dance may compensate for lack of charm and wit in certain social settings.
Consider this: None of the three questions have anything to do with the day-to-day lives of ordinary people. Most people, I wager, have enough trouble just going to work, taking care of their families, paying their bills, avoiding foreclosure, etc., to dedicate brain space to Brown, Rice and the Democratic Party. God knows that none of those three give a shit about ordinary people; why should ordinary people give a shit about them?
No question that people in this country are stupid, I'd guess anyone on this forum could walk around their workplace and ask a multitude of rather simple geographic and political questions and get nothing but blank stares in reply.
When you find that co-worker who can answer everything you ask them, you find someone you will spend more time being around. As far as co workers go, there is only one who can answer the political and geographic questions I throw at him. Out of hundreds. And he knows better than to bother asking the same of anyone but me.
That's reality in America, and quite likely Americans are the the dumbest of all industrialized nations run by so-called "Democratic" governments.
this is why Republicans win, they prey on the uninformed and use general terms and easy to understand words to get the dumbsky vote.
Democrats speak in detail and nuance which gets lost by the average joe, making them harder to get elected by the tard base
I would like to see a survey like this and also identify who is a democrat and who is a republican. I can gurantee that the majority of IDIOTS vote republican.
I waz hom-scholed & will vote for Mcain. Spelling
waz my best subjet. BTW I luv Fox & limbah.
"Maybe my perspective is skewed because I just finished reading Rick Shenkman’s “Just How Stupid Are We?” but at a certain point, the political world is going to have to come to grips with the fact that a striking percentage of the electorate has no idea what’s going on."
Come to grips with this?!? Don't you understand, they ALREADY realize it, and what's more, they foster it and COUNT on it! This is EXACTLY what the politicians like...IGNORANCE and indifference from their constituency...THIS IS HOW THEY GET AWAY WITH EVERYTHING!!!! Jeez...
Can you blame them?
To me, the most revealing factoid mentioned here is that more people knew that Congress was controlled by Democrats right after the 2006 elections than are aware of this fact today. This suggests that, if a lot of people are arguably not paying attention, the Democratic Congress is sure giving them a lot to not pay attention to. I mean, unless you did have a program, how could you tell the players of one team from the other? If most Americans don't bother to buy a program anymore, is is just barely possible that the problem isn't that they are pathologically passive and apathetic, but that the party of the people is pathologically passive?
and they will elect mccain. and they will find themselves in a world of... crap. and they will not even notice. because us is always best.
Udon Nomee @ 111:
But they DO bring the guns and beer.
fastfeat @ 123:
Quite true, and I stand corrected. So I'll make that, without the wit, anyway.
...gone broke underestimating ..." was The Sage Of Baltimore...H. L.Mencken
". . .but at a certain point, the political world is going to have to come to grips with the fact that a striking percentage of the electorate has no idea what’s going on."
And that's the way the politicians like it.
Fists of Legend @ 115:
It isn't an excuse for being clueless about what goes on beyond your nose. The US has more information accessible than most and one of the highest standards of living on the planet. There are millions of people with more problems that still manage to be aware of which political party has a majority in congress/equiv or who leads a significant world power.
I remember some right winger using a similar excuse for Bush not knowing which fork to use when visiting the Queen of England...
This is total BS. What they are saying doesn't even line up with the facts as they state them.
According to their own numbers, these audiences have the following percentages of correct answers:
The New Yorker - 48%
The Atlantic - 48%
Harper’s Magazine - 48%
NPR listeners - 44% of regular listeners registering a high knowledge score.
Hardball - 43% of viewers also score relatively high.
Hannity & Colmes - 42% of viewers also score relatively high.
Business magazine readers - 36%
Rush Limbaugh listeners - 36%
First of all, let's say a "high knowledge score" is an A. "Score relatively high" is NOT the same thing, and is probably a B. So 48% of the first 3 got A's, and 43% of Hardball and Hannity & Colmes viewers got B's. They're not even measuring the same things!
To then go on and say, "Some highly knowledgeable and attentive news audiences - such as The New Yorker’s, Limbaugh’s, Hannity & Colmes’ or Hardball’s..." just shows me how skewed this is... To say "highly knowledgeable and attentive news audiences", and then list not the top four by ranking, but numbers one, seven, six and five (the last three of which I find painfully stupid to watch), is nothing short of propaganda at it's worst. God forbid Rush's followers discovered they were ill-informed, they might actually seek out another source of information, and learn something. And then vote differently. Can't have that...
This is BS.
It's so damned frustrating talking to guys I work with about Bush , the neocon , the Repugs , what's been going on these last almost eight years , they look at me with blank faces and have no clue what so ever , I don't even think what I tell them registers , they are not interested at all and they think I am some kind of ranting nut case . I would say the majority have never even voted , maybe that is a good thing come to think of it , anyway , it is frustrating as hell .The biggest danger to this country are an ignorant , lazy , apathetic and STUPID people and yes , we are in big trouble . A country full of simpletons ( at best ) combined with journalists and " pundits " who now are nothing but sold out spineless whores ... I do believe we are going to continue our journey down the crapper folks ! Good bye America .
beancounter @ 23:
Unofortunately, they always vote! You are talking about the republican base. They just get ALL of their information from Fox News and talk radio.
These are the same idiots who also think they are the smartest people in the room, and that everyone else is ignorant! Remember, these folks use conservapedia because only repukes understand the true meaning of words that have a totally different meaning to everyone one else.
This is totally not news. In the world outside of the U.S., it is widely known that many Americans know very little about life beyond themselves, nor do they care.
No, I'm not American, but I have lived there for a short period of time, many years ago.
I was completely shocked by the lack of 'any' knowledge of countries, events or matters outside of the U.S., by it's citizens. I was even more amazed by the lack of embarrassment of not knowing...most even thought it funny.
This, in a country which bursts at the seams with information & opportunities to arm oneself with knowledge.
Fast forward to a few years ago...Rick Mercer, a Canadian comedian & political satirist, did a segment (on the Canadian show '22 Minutes') called 'Talking to Americans'. He would ask 'people in the street' in the U.S. 'invented & rather ridiculous' questions about Canada, with unbelievably stupid responses.
Some of those interviewed included university professors & students & people in very high positions in government, including Dubya, who never even blinked when asked about Jean 'Poutine'...a play on words for our then Prime Minister, Jean Chretien.
I feel so badly for the many Americans who don't turn their brains off when the TV goes on...who care deeply about their country, and also about people in the world who are people, just like them...for they are held back & lumped in with those who are just too lazy to even give a sh*t.
Pack your pistols, wave your flags, gobble up your McDonald's, flop on the couch so you don't miss American Idol while filling your face with beer & chips...and of course, don't miss making it all 'okay' by touting that you are a good Christian...just be sure not to look past your nose for fear of having to actually think.
Bitter...probably...but look what has been allowed to happen in your 'most progressive' country...what continues to happen today.
I wonder what it will take for the U.S. to wake up & be the country they purport to be.
L.A. Confidential @ 70:
Um... don't you mean "absolute ignoramae"....
if people won't make the effort to inform themselves about what's going on in the world then they deserve everything that happens to them. The really unfortunate thing about it is that those people are the majority, so we all suffer because of their ignorance. I also find myself really doubting this poll, because I live in Indiana, which is a red state, and I work with a bunch of people that listen to Hannity, O'Rielly, and Limbaugh and they are nothing but a bunch of parrots without a single original thought in their heads. One of them actually told me the other day that solar power was no better than oil because the sun was a non-renewable resource as well. I wish I was kidding. He thinks that Newt Gingrich is the end all and be all. I find it hard to believe that he is more politically astute than I am. As far as consumer knowledge and sophistication go, C&L is hard to beat.
Possible future of your nation?
Well, I for one know it doesn't work that way...so it's more probable it's gonna be like this.
While im at it, maybe a bit offtopic....but I recommend watching Generation Kill. It feels genuine and quite accurate.
tony @ 83:
Dude, I agree with you but going around critting people with that wall of text is torture. The ENTER key is your friend. Please use it wisely!
Television is a huge part of the national ignorance problem. there ought to be a No American left behind act that includes the revocation of all network licenses/franchises to use our airwaves and bandwidth, being that those networks which make affectations of running news and information shows have deliberately done so much to ensure ignorance.
"Half of the American people have never read a newspaper. Half never voted for President. One hopes it is the same half."
Gore Vidal
"Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that."
George Carlin
See...Americans WANT to go back protectionism. During the second and third decades of the last century isolationism was the status quo. Maybe our country needs think about it as an option. Our Government has become a snafu and the country itself is fubar. Our house is broken and needs fixing desperately. You can't tell other people what to do with their house, when yours is crumbling around ears. Maybe we need to start minding our own business and fix what's wrong here.
The 50% of no nothing voters are the sheeple nation, and as everyone knows, SHEEPLE RULE!
We voted Bush and Darth into office twice. Condelezza is a fraud. The Democrats are not the majority in the House; Corporations via lobbyists run the House and the land it was built on. Who cares about Britain. America was born when we got rid of the Brits. Why should we care who"s running Britain now? Another example of leaders who shit on the public they work for.
She should be more concerned with being able to spot the bullshitters we
always end up with.
I took this test and scored an 83%, which 50% higher than the average for my age group. I am also a college graduate.
If you took this test, you were able to compare your scores to people to various backgrounds, including college graduates. I still scored 20-30% higher than the college graduates.
Just because you go to college does not mean you are gonna be knowledgeable about politics (myself included). Who came blame people for being uninterested or completely overwhelmed with the current political landscape? This website, among 2034092340923409238423 others are dedicated to criticizing, and rightly so, what passes for news these days! The masses are tired, and they have grown complacent with the cacophony of political sycophants that they are told to trust.
The responsibility is upon all of us to help educate our fellow citizen, to help them foster a general interest in politics, and more importantly to vote for what they believe, no matter if it be for McCain or for Cynthia McKinney.
Be excellent,
Bill S. Preston Esq.
Login or Register to post comments.