The following links show an increbible level of ignorance. As for being able to name the Vice-President, there is a contradiction - 69% of people could name the current Vice-President (meaning almost a third could not...), but when asked who Richard Cheney was, only 21% knew the answer. Go figure...

Public Knowledge of Current Affairs little changed by News and Information Revolution

(This also shows THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE ARE GETTING THEIR NEWS FROM JON STEWART'S DAILY SHOW AND THE COLBERT REPORT. BOTH COMEDY PROGRAMS!!!)

http://people-press.org/reports/disp...3?ReportID=319

Here's a link from Findlaw.com - Most Americans can't name a single Supreme Court Justice:

http://www.ipsos-na.com/news/client/...is.pdf&id=2933

And get a load of this article:

Most Americans agree with Constitutional principles, but don't know document's details, survey shows.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Knight Ridder Washington Bureau

Byline: Steven Thomma

WASHINGTON _ With their country at war, Americans celebrate the 215th anniversary of their Constitution on Tuesday, even though most of them admit they don't know much about what's in it.

While only 16 percent of adult Americans say they have a "detailed" knowledge of the document, a strong majority agrees with its bedrock principle _ that the country should follow the will of the majority...

http://www.accessmylibrary.com/comsi...d=0286-8775571

THAT WAS NOT THE BEDROCK PRINCIPLE OF THE CONSTITUTION. Even the author got it wrong!!!!

"It [is] inconsistent with the principles of civil liberty, and contrary
to the natural rights of the other members of the society, that any
body of men therein should have authority to enlarge their own
powers... without restraint." --Thomas Jefferson: Virginia Allowance
Bill, 1778. (government or the majority has no right to usurp authority that deprives any individual of inalienable rights under Natural Law)

"The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as
are injurious to others." --Thomas Jefferson: Notes on Virginia, 1782. (meaning government or majority does not have the right to claim any power over people if they are acting in peaceful, honest, voluntary ways)

"Laws provide against injury from others, but not from
ourselves." --Thomas Jefferson: Notes on Religion, 1776 (meaning the majority cannot make laws punishing victimless crimes such as prostitution or smoking marijuana)

"The people cannot delegate to government the power to do anything which would be unlawful for them to do themselves (as individuals)." - John Locke (the principle influence of the political thought of the Founding Fathers)

As Jefferson warned:

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, it expects what never was and never will be." - Thomas Jefferson

A couple of more surveys showing a high level of ignorance in general:

National Survey Reveals More than 70% of Americans Don't Know Plastic is Made from Oil

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/070420/20070420005536.html

New Survey Suggests Most Americans Don't Know What's in a Cigarette

http://quitsmoking.about.com/b/a/257714.htm

__________________
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." - Schopenhauer

Fat, ignorant, self-satisfied, self-indulgent, ill educated people can hardly call themselves a society. Rome learned it - we are next. I just hope the good times last what lifetime I have left - but I doubt it. We are bloody doomed and we deserve it. The only redeeming factor is that Europe goes before us. "God, if there is a God, help our country, if it deserves any help" !!!!

__________________
"Civilizations die from suicide, not murder." Arnold Toynbee

...oh, but they can rattle off all the contestants on American Idiot, and Survivor!

Most Americans' "news" outlets are Comedy Central and E! Entertainment now. It's sad to think that so many people are so freakin' ignorant, but they always seem to have an answer for all the world's problems.

I blame lazy parents, teachers' unions, and government schools.

Maybe it's a deep-seated subliminal psycho-social aversion based on a gut-feeling that most closely resembles revulsion.....

Ha ha - you know, I"ve been noticing the "other" behavior of a lot of the people who still claim to support Bushie/Cheney and their policies.

The rhetoric coming out of some of these people is... well.... astounding.

I'll give you a f'r instance - how about the part about "let's give the surge a chance to work"?

Any other administration, I'd probably say "okay"....

But with this one, that would be insanity - the definition of which, is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results.

Peoples' minds process these kinds of things, even when they're not paying attention.

You kinda use that term ignorant as a blanket description of all Americans. Ouch. Not nice. But then you waltz around, the self proclaimed genious, that you are. Just has an air of condesention is all I'm sayin. But I've come to expect it from demys (woe is me; I'm stuck in a field of morons).

PS
Yea... once again I didn't read your post. What're we talkin about?

Quote:
I'm currently reading Dude Where's My Country. I've gone online and read many articles from both sides. I've seen both sides. I've listened to what you have to say and I just don't like it. You accuse anyone who disagrees with you of being ignorant. And I may not follow things as close as you or others do but, lady, I am a far cry from ignorant.


None are more hopelessly ignorant, than those who falsely believe they are knowledgable. If you really want to learn something, take the time to read the following:


Don't kid yourself sweet thing. Your facts go through the spin cycle just like everyone elses. If you want the trueth then I suggest you enlist and go over there. Then I'll listen to you.

PS
I loved ho you had to seperate that brief statement of Rush, you know kinda take it out of context. Makes me sound like some far right nut job. Nice technique.

Rome didn't fall because of ignorance, but because of acceptance.

__________________
“Good leaders abhor wrongdoing of all kinds; sound leadership has a moral foundation.”

-Proverbs 16:12

Actually, the evidence shows that the majority is indeed ignorant. That is accurate.

When did I proclaim myself to be a genius? In fact I'd fully deny that I'm a genius.

Again, I'm not a Democrat. Sorry to disappoint you.


Once again...that's quite obvious...

__________________
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." - Schopenhauer

The trouble is that ignorance is rational.
In what way is it rational for people who are not interested in politics to follow it? Everything seems to go as it would if they payed attention. Some feel things are going well regardless of their participation. Others feel it goes crappy and there's nothing they can do. And is there actually a decent argument against that? Not one that isn't ultimately rooted in responsibilty and risk for long-term results.
Problem is our culture has long had an anti-intellectual streak in it. Being informed isn't cool and has not been for some time. Therefore, being that there are no tangible benefits... and the potential benefits are contingent themselves on the rest of a very high population... there is no rationale for staying involved.
Why do people like us stay knowledgable and involved? It really comes down to it that we enjoy it, doesn't it? We don't really have any "save the world" motivation, thaough at times we might convince ourselves.

I agree that in order for us to keep liberty, ignorance must be minimized... but on the individual level there is no rational cause for keeping up. There are more beneficial uses of time for themajority of people.

My best guess is that the primary cause for the seeming uselessness of involvement and knowledge is the size of the population involved. It's overwhelming. The only way to keep people interested is to decrease that size, thereby increasing the validity of the individual... And that means decentralization. People need more focus on politics at the community level and minimal focus at the federal level.
But frankly I don't see that happening any time soon.

__________________
"Man lives in the sunlit world of that which he believes to be reality. But unseen by most is an underworld, a place that is just as real... but not as brightly lit... A DARK SIDE!"
-opening from Tales From the Darkside

Definitely a factor:

"Report: U.S. No. 1 in school spending

Test scores fall in middle of the pack

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The United States spends more public and private money on education than other major countries, but its performance doesn't measure up in areas ranging from high-school graduation rates to test scores in math, reading and science, a new report shows.

"There are countries which don't get the bang for the bucks, and the U.S. is one of them," said Barry McGaw, education director for the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which produced the annual review of industrialized nations.

The United States spent $10,240 per student from elementary school through college in 2000, according to the report. The average was $6,361 among more than 25 nations."

Rest of article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/EDUCATION/09...n.compared.ap/

And yet these are the "glorious" results of ignorance our "marvelous" public education system has left us with...

Interesting that we started the most revolutionary form of government in the world without it. Interesting that in his travels through America while writing his book "Democracy in America" Tocqueville noted that many Americans had the legal knowledge of attorneys. And now look at us... The majority can't even name a single supreme court judge...

Yes, let's spend another trillion dollars on the government education bureaucracy and see how much more ignorant we can become as a nation. Great plan there... Never been tried before...

__________________
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." - Schopenhauer