Are Americans Really Stupid?
I was recently perusing the offerings of YouTube (http://www.youtube.com) and came across a wave of videos citing that Americans are stupid. The majority of these videos consisted of a reporter asking people on the street questions – and the people failing to answer correctly, or at all.
I’ll have to admit that some of the wrongly answered questions were relatively easy. The one that pops into mind is “name a country that begins with the letter U.” Some said Utah, others couldn’t answer. The obvious response was the United States of America.
There were also some videos that, using the same format as mentioned above, showed people in other countries being stupid. I assumed they were made by Americans offended by the glut of negative videos regarding Americans.
As I was watching some of the videos I found myself testing myself regarding various matters. I must say that I was rather disheartened by my inability to respond to my own questions. Questions like: What is the Gaza Strip? What is the Federal Reserve? How is NASA funded? Can you name five cabinet positions? It didn’t leave me feeling stupid, but it did leave me feeling ignorant of world affairs.
All this got me to wondering: what is it that I do know? I concluded that there are many things about which I am ignorant, but there are also many things which I know. And as it turns out, the things I know are of greater benefit to me than those I do not know.
I know about my work, my family, my home, and everything needed for me to survive from day to day. And that’s a lot – a whole lot. I really don’t have the brain space for the names of governors of different states – and what good would knowing their names do me?
I do know the shortest route to work, and good alternate routes during bad traffic. I know how much I can spend for lunch, and I know that in two years I’ll have to replace the refrigerator.
My mind is also working on problems. Admittedly, my problems are not as grand in scale as the ones in the Gaza Strip right now, but they are more important to me. Should I fix up my old truck engine, or buy a new truck? I really don’t have time to figure out the middle-east crisis, I’m trying to figure out how to stretch dollars.
There are also things I worry about. I don’t worry about what President Bush and Condoleeza Rice will be talking about. I worry about what to do if I lose my job. Is my savings account safe anymore? How much more value will my home lose this year?
I don’t think that Americans are stupid. Nor do I think people in other countries are stupid. I think we’re all caught in traps and struggling to survive – each at our own levels. We may have time to read the news, but not study it. And really, after all is said and done, what good does it do to know more about global affairs? The majority of Americans, for example, are against the war in Iraq – so what? Nothing changes.
So revel in what you do know – it’s probably pretty important stuff!!!
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