2011-03-23 13:10:47 UTC
This shouldn't surprise you. Americans are ignorant .. .and they're
especially ignorant when it comes to government. No surprise --- look who
is in charge of education. Plus, we have all of the information at our
fingertips and yet we are too lazy to seek it out. Instead we are content
with reading People Magazine and watching American Idol. Meanwhile, the
politicians at all levels of government are making decisions that truly
affect your life, your freedom and your pocketbook.
So Newsweek gave over 1,000 Americans a citizenship quiz to answer basic
questions about our government. Now you can take the quiz for yourself ..
but you should know that 38% of your peers flat-out failed the test, and you
only needed to get 60% of the questions right in order to pass. Here are
just a few of the questions that tripped up our fellow American Idol
Americas:
· How many justices are in the Supreme Court? (63 per cent did not
know)
· Who is the Vice President of America? (29 per cent did not know)
· Seventy per cent of Americans do not know what the Constitution
is
· Six per cent couldn't tell you when Independence Day falls.
· Seventy-three percent couldn't correctly say why we fought the
Cold War
· Forty-four percent were unable to define the Bill of Rights
The fact is, folks, that Americans aren't getting dumber .. but with all
the information available to us, we are not getting any smarter. This is
by design. This is exactly the way that our government schools and our
politicians would have it. The more you know the greater threat you are to
those in power. The original goal of America's government schools was to
educate you to the point that you would be a good employee and government
subject ... but no further. It's no wonder that Americans believe the
following:
A 2010 World Public Opinion survey found that Americans want to tackle
deficits by cutting foreign aid from what they believe is the current level
(27 percent of the budget) to a more prudent 13 percent. The real number is
under 1 percent. A Jan. 25 CNN poll, meanwhile, discovered that even though
71 percent of voters want smaller government, vast majorities oppose cuts to
Medicare (81 percent), Social Security (78 percent), and Medicaid (70
percent). Instead, they prefer to slash waste--a category that, in their
fantasy world, seems to include 50 percent of spending, according to a 2009
Gallup poll.
As boring as it may be .. knowledge about our budget and spending is
crucial at this moment in our history. Speaking of budgets ...
especially ignorant when it comes to government. No surprise --- look who
is in charge of education. Plus, we have all of the information at our
fingertips and yet we are too lazy to seek it out. Instead we are content
with reading People Magazine and watching American Idol. Meanwhile, the
politicians at all levels of government are making decisions that truly
affect your life, your freedom and your pocketbook.
So Newsweek gave over 1,000 Americans a citizenship quiz to answer basic
questions about our government. Now you can take the quiz for yourself ..
but you should know that 38% of your peers flat-out failed the test, and you
only needed to get 60% of the questions right in order to pass. Here are
just a few of the questions that tripped up our fellow American Idol
Americas:
· How many justices are in the Supreme Court? (63 per cent did not
know)
· Who is the Vice President of America? (29 per cent did not know)
· Seventy per cent of Americans do not know what the Constitution
is
· Six per cent couldn't tell you when Independence Day falls.
· Seventy-three percent couldn't correctly say why we fought the
Cold War
· Forty-four percent were unable to define the Bill of Rights
The fact is, folks, that Americans aren't getting dumber .. but with all
the information available to us, we are not getting any smarter. This is
by design. This is exactly the way that our government schools and our
politicians would have it. The more you know the greater threat you are to
those in power. The original goal of America's government schools was to
educate you to the point that you would be a good employee and government
subject ... but no further. It's no wonder that Americans believe the
following:
A 2010 World Public Opinion survey found that Americans want to tackle
deficits by cutting foreign aid from what they believe is the current level
(27 percent of the budget) to a more prudent 13 percent. The real number is
under 1 percent. A Jan. 25 CNN poll, meanwhile, discovered that even though
71 percent of voters want smaller government, vast majorities oppose cuts to
Medicare (81 percent), Social Security (78 percent), and Medicaid (70
percent). Instead, they prefer to slash waste--a category that, in their
fantasy world, seems to include 50 percent of spending, according to a 2009
Gallup poll.
As boring as it may be .. knowledge about our budget and spending is
crucial at this moment in our history. Speaking of budgets ...