As regular visors to this blog may recall, I am an unashamed Americophile and I share the following YouTube clip with some regret as I know that not all Americans are as ill-informed as the interviewees it contains. You may need to click off the irritating advertising bar at the bottom.
Of course, at least five of our American cousins are regular visitors to this humble blog and I know that all of them are well-informed and highly intellectual, having a keen grasp of current world affairs and world geography. They would certainly not have fallen into the traps that were prepared for the dumbasses in the video. For example, my friend Chris in Ohio is well aware that they speak French in France and Richard in Minneapolis knows for sure that America's northern border is with a vast nature reserve known as Canada
Mind you, if I was stopped in the street and asked a bunch of random mathematical or numbers-related questions, I too would appear like an absolute dunce. I guess that different people know different things and place high value on different pots of knowledge. The stuff we retain is linked with perceived "need". If you're working and happily raising a family in the heartlands of America - still the wealthiest and most powerful country on the planet - why would you need to know who Tony Blair was or the location of North Korea? Better to know the current price of pork loins at the Piggly Wiggly.
I quite the idea of al-Quaeda being a Masonic order. Some things are just meant to be true.
ReplyDeleteI loved this. It is SO true. You have to look long and hard to find someone to share an intelligent conversation. I don't know if there are just a bunch of stupid people here or they just don't care anymore. At any rate, I attribute it to the success of the right-wing media that has not only dumbed down everything, but made ignorance seem like a good quality to have. One reason I'm not a popular party guest is I've become totally intolerant of stupidity and don't mind pointing out when someone's "opinion" is nothing but a quote from Fox "news."
ReplyDeleteYou are correct, however, that many of those folks who don't even know KFC originated in Kentucky do a fine job of raising their families. It just makes politics and elections so meaningless.
Very funny! And sad....
ReplyDeleteFor the record, I knew all the answers (but every grammar-school child should) except "What is the coalition of the willing?"
And now, thanks to you, I know that one too.
It shouldn't have made a different, but if you look closely and quickly you will see that the man with the map had Australia labeled as Iran at one point, and later Australia was labeled North Korea and Tasmania was labeled South Korea. Still, anybody with even the tiniest knowledge of world geography shouldn't have been taken in by the clever subterfuge.
ReplyDeletedifferent = difference, sorry.
ReplyDeleteSHOOTING PARROTS Quite LIKE?
ReplyDeleteJAN BLAWAT Are you sure you're not English?
RHYMES WITH...I must admit that I had also never heard the term "the coalition of the willing" but in relation to your fellow citizens - the ones interviewed in the clip - may I just ask if there are places in America where people are not required to go to school?
Four different Americans assumed New Zealand was somewhere up near Newfoundland when I was last traveling there. Seems nothing much has changed.
ReplyDeleteI love that Australia (the nationality of the interviewer, by the way) was assumed to be so many different countries.
Scary. America scares me.
Nigel, of course Americans are required to go to school. Until they are 16. Then they can quit if they like. Nobody, but nobody, can make them learn, however. That's up to each individual.
ReplyDeleteMy personal opinion is that since corporal punishment was taken out of schools it has been all downhill from there. Sometimes the board of education just needs to be applied to the seat of learning.
Nowadays, Americans just watch reality television (Jersey Shore, Sister Wives, Say Yes to the Dress, Swamp People, Storage Wars, America's Got Talent, Dancing With the Stars, etc., etc.), shop at Walmart, lie on the beach, drink beer, and have their politics spoon-fed to them by either (a) Fox News or (b) the regime.
This makes me so, so sad. There are lots and lots of these types of "tests" in the media and in comedy these days. And, to me, the sadist part of all is that so many people think it is funny instead of being mortified. What in the world will become of us if we do not reverse this trend of our non-educated, uninformed, illiterate populace? Why is this lack of knowledge and lack of interest in anything other than the television reality shows and the latest sport star not a jarring wake-up call to our educators, our parents, and our government?
ReplyDelete