Damn, we’re becoming a stupid people.
Pop quiz: Who was emperor when the United States declared independence from China?
Give up?
Perhaps you should ask one of the Americans who, when asked what country the U.S. separated from, named France, Japan, Mexico, Spain or, yes, China.
A new Marist poll shows that 26% of people in this country don’t know that the U.S. declared its independence from Great Britain. That includes 20% who aren’t sure — and another 6% who think it was another country.
Looking at the numbers more deeply, it appears the closer to 1776 you were born, the more likely you are to know the correct answer.
And in breaking news, 87% of US citizens cannot walk and chew gum at the same time.
However when illegal immigrants were tried with the same task 45.7% could not understand the question unless it was asked in Spanish. The rest were too busy running for the exit.
Instead of teaching history, math or science the schools are teaching “conflict resolution within a peer group” and other such touchy-feely new-world-order Liberal propaganda. Now we are starting to see the effects of “Goals 2000” garbage. And Amerika will reap what is sown…..
You find this surprising? I work in an IT department and can tell you based on experience that people are profoundly stupid. If it weren’t for the minority of us that can actually use our brains we would all still be living in caves, naked, with no fire.
Wait, we didn’t declare independence from…Native Americans? pfff.
This is understandable as only older people are interested in history as they now have experienced it.
Cursor_
Surprisingly high percentage for the general sheeple population.
Fox News should allocate 15 seconds of historical facts in each show to raise the sheeple scores. It would be great PR for them.
* assuming they use recognized historical references, not their own.
I wonder what the numbers would have been if “Great Britain” was actually on the poll. Maybe the people just ticked anything thinking the people running the poll are idiots.
It’s been proven over and over that approximately 25% of Americans are morons.
These are probably the same 25% who cannot point to the USA on a world map.
#3 – Ayn Rand Lives!
50% of the population is below average.
So years of Democrat/NEA outrageous spending on education isn’t working? Shocking. Those damn conservatives have been holding us back. We need to spend more money on education. I am certain more funding is a sure fix. Let’s start in California. More funding for California schools, NOW!
Maybe all the potential smart ones have been aborted and we have reverse eugenics. Or maybe the teachers aren’t worth what we pay them despite their crying and whining. (just brainstorming here) No, I’m sure it’s money.
#8 Pedrito, always expect to see your drive by drivel!
Mucho feliz July 4th en tu village!
I have a whole crowd of Pedros that do my lawn service. I chat with them on occasion and try to convey past and current history. They are now aware that the Germans attacked Pearl Harbor, JFK was killed while riding in a low rider with the top down, food stamps cause sickle cell anemia, women in Burquas are actually Mexican women held captive and BP gas will cause gas powered lawn equipment to fail.
Well I blame the reductionist education philosophy that permeates the schools, and the people who ask stupid questions like “do I need to learn this to compete?”. Readin’, writin’, ‘rithmentic is fine, but history, philosophy and THINKING are left out and cannot be. And none of it has to cost the schools so much, after all it all has been taught in the past without spending untold monies on laptops and wireless substructures.
#2 You need to get with the times. Peer mediation is out of fashion because it turns out bullies enjoy bullying. Who would have guessed that?
What is in fashion in history/social studies is political correctness. Showing respect for all possible points of view and all minorities so real history as in teaching what pivotal events occurred and who did what in relation to those events is pretty much not in fashion nor is any suggestion that any of the colonies were founded for or by Christians for religious reasons. (Many weren’t but some definitely were.)
That the abolition of Slavery is pretty much a New Testiment inspired religiously based idea is being lost even though the all men/people are brothers is squarely based on New Testiment theology.
I’m sorry but there is no logical, rational reason why one human shouldn’t exploit another human to the greatest degree possible for their personal gratification other than fear of retribution.
When I was in my freshman year at college, my Calculus I professor gave us a small 5 question test concerning American history.
It seems engineering, computer science and math students missed 4 out of 5 simple history questions. I shudder to think how well the liberal arts majors would have done.
It happened so long ago, does it even matter anymore?
I had a /sarcasm tag.. but the blog deleted it..
I call bullshit. Americans are surprisingly knowledgeable about history, we just like to complain about the education system.
Didn’t fivethirtyeight.com bust some pollster not to long ago over a similar poll that essentially said students in Oklahoma knew nothing about US history. It turned out they had been making up numbers for years.
#12 qb
“50% of the population is below average”
Um, no.
50% of the population is below the median 🙂
26% of people “in this country”
Uh, that wouldn’t include the millions and millions of ignorant Mexicans, would it????
I would have said “England” with only a quibble that it might be Great Britain. BTW, which is it really? and is GB actually England and Wales, or just England, Wales AND Scotland? or with parts of Ireland. And if Free Ireland gets invaded, conquered, and incorporated again, would it become “Greater Britain?”
Sadly, the only “real” lesson to learn is that: land is taken and held by force alone. Rights and history and the killing of innocent people and the bleeding of overextended empires does form a context, but its all force.
I picked up an English babe outside a party near Norwich one evening and she took me home. Somehow the conversation turned to literature and she didn’t know who Shakespeare was. I thought to myself: could this chick really be from Oklahoma?
#26 bobbo
Just for the record:-
The United Kingdom consists of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Great Britain is a combination of England, Scotland and Wales.
Citizenship is of the UK.
All clear now?
Thanks Fred–but the question relates to timing.
Who did the American Colonies revolt against?
We’ve all been fooled. Our independance was a big scheme cooked up by the Brits to make us believe we were looking to disconnect from them when in reality it was the British who won their independance from from us as so many British colonies eventually did from Britain.
Hmmmmm…….
Now that’s revolting!!
#28 bobbo
Try this:-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolution
It contains one fascinating sentence that should raise political hackles in some quarters:
“Americans rejected the oligarchies common in aristocratic Europe at the time, championing instead the development of republicanism based on the Enlightenment understanding of liberalism.”
If I have understood that correctly, in order to be a Republican you have to be a liberal! Whatever next?
Was it British Petroleum?
#13: The Declaration of Independence is the requirements document, while the Constitution is the design document. One implements the other.
24% of Americans think Obama was born in Kenya or some other place they couldn’t find on a map.
http://tinyurl.com/2b4jd6l
Now _THAT’S_ a bunch of dumb-as-dirt people.