Folks still don’t know where Louisiana is
A recent survey has shown that nearly one-third of young adults share a common trait with their Commander in Chief: they can’t find Louisiana.
Well, having done a tour of duty teaching the future of our nation, I can vouch for this. Not only do not most kids not know where Louisiana (or anywhere else) is, they don’t much care…and when you think about it, this makes sense. Why study geography when you’re probably never going to leave the US (or Texas)? Why fret over remembering the capital of South Dakota (Pierre) when there are video games waiting to be played. And, since most parents are not any better off intellectually, it’s not as if parents are going to take any responsibility for helping to change this unfortunate reality.
How bad is it? Well, consider that three years ago we invaded and are currently occupying Iraq, a country that most American CAN’T EVEN FIND ON A MAP. If ignorance is bliss…damn, we must be one ecstatic nation, eh?
Americans ages 18 to 24 were also asked to identify the state of Mississippi on a map, but nearly half were unable to.
Things got even worse as the questions went international. Six in ten couldn’t find Iraq, despite their having bought the oil-rich nation over three years ago.
The Roper poll was conducted for National Geographic.
“Geographic illiteracy impacts our economic well-being, our relationships with other nations and the environment, and isolates us from the world,” National Geographic president John Fahey.
Relationships with other nations? Who needs them when we can invade? As the world’s last remaining superower, we can kick sand in the face of anyone we choose…and if you don’t like it, well, you can just go back to France…wherever that is.
I realize that this is a horrible over-generalization, but sometimes I look around and what I see frightens me. On so many levels, we are turning into an ignorant, self-absorbed, insenstive, NASCAR-worshipping, Amerika uber Alles, knee-jerk Conservative Republican, Trailer Park Nation. The sad part of this is that it begins in our schools. Schools can’t teach kids who don’t want to learn how to think for themselves, and if parents won’t become involved…well, what hope is there?
Of course, the good thing about the sorry state of intellectual affairs in this country is that it works to the advantage of the party currently in power. Those who don’t stand for something will generally fall for anything that sounds believable. If you’re unwilling and/or unable to think critically about the propaganda the government is feeding you, you’ll pretty much swallow the party line whole. How else do you explain 59,000,000+ people voting for Our Glorious Leader in 2004?
Stupid is as stupid does….
