By Jeff
As a follow-up to Meg’s post regarding just how ignorant many people are regarding this election and what are their (foolish) motives for choosing their candidate, it got me thinking about a recent blog post from Ben Smith, who makes the point that it’s actually surprising that "only" 10 percent of Americans think Barack Obama is a Muslim, given the striking ignorance Americans show in many other areas.
So, building off his base, here are a few more statistics about Americans that is really actually pretty depressing.
10 percent think Barrack Obama is Muslim.
18 percent think the sun revolves around the Earth.
19 percent accept the presence of spells and witchcraft.
22 percent think George W. Bush knew about the 9/11 attacks before they happened.(continued)
30 percent STILL think that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.
31 percent think the Bible is 100 percent accurate and can be taken literally word-for-word.
31 percent can't name the current vice president.
39 percent think that humanity is "definitely" less than 10,000 years old.
47 percent think that the earliest humans lived at the same time as the dinosaurs.
50 percent ages 18-24 can't find New York on a map.
53 percent would refuse to vote for an atheist for president, which is a higher percentage than who would refuse to vote for a black, woman, Muslim, homosexual, 72-year-old or twice-divorced candidate.
65 percent can't name whose face is on the nickel.
So when I see that 36 percent of the population didn’t vote in the last election, it really doesn’t strike me as something we need to remedy in any urgent manner. I’ve got pretty big hunch that there is a great deal of overlap in the ignorant cohorts listed above.
Comments (3)
Oh, my, I've gone and started something. It must be said, though, that I still want every American adult to vote this November, no matter the motivation. A dream election night for me would be one where the polls stay open to accommodate massive turnout. I've been thinking a lot about personal responsibility lately, though, and the lack of it I'm seeing in the media and in my friends. People like to say that opinion is never wrong but I believe that it can be, if it's not fully informed. And we're all guilty of that at times. I want people to read the newspapers and form responsible, intelligent opinion. If they don't, though, I still want them to vote. I want it both ways, and I can't have it both ways, and that's depressing.
Love this post! May be the best one yet!
The sad state of politices is that everyone running isn't gving up any chance of losing their status - each is a seated senator - GUARANTEE-ING THEIR STATUE QUO - All the time talking change. It may not be dishonest - but it isn't being honest either.
The only change will be the name at the top with business as usual being the agenda
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..All lies - vote for me I will do this or that in reality will do nothing for the people