American Idiots

Newsweek asked, and America answered... incorrectly. In fact, 39% of the 1,000 U.S. citizens polled failed the standard U.S. citizenship test.

According to Newsweek's poll:

• 29% of Americans don't know who their vice president is. (It's Joe Biden, in case you fall into that percentile.)
• 73% of Americans—that's roughly 3 out of 4 people, folks—aren't sure why the U.S. was involved in the Cold War. (Need a quick refresher? Here's a link to the Cold War Wikipedia entry.)
• 6% of Americans couldn’t circle Independence Day on a calendar. (That's the Fourth of July, helloooo!)
• Just 58% of Americans can identify the Taliban. Holland beat the U.S. by 10 points, scoring 68%. Meanwhile, Brittan beat that 75%, and Finland finished slightly ahead of them, with 76%.
• Most Americans think foreign aid represents 27% of the country's budget, and suggest cutting it to 13% of the budget. However, foreign aid represents less than 1% of the nation's budgetary spending. 

More than a quarter of the country doesn't know who's second to the throne in the Oval Office? Really?! And 3/4 of the nation doesn't know what the big deal about the Cold War was?That's almost as depressing as hearing 6% of Americans don't know what day to celebrate, um, America on—and it's a national holiday. With fireworks and BBQ. Even the dumbest drunken Nascar fans know when the Fourth of July is.

Where did they find these people?

"Hey there! Have you been living in a cave since 1963? Yes? Great! Come take this survey..."

"Howdy, ma'am. That's a nice bonnet you're wearing. Do you by chance live on a commune with no access to books, newspapers, magazines, radio, television, the internet, or any other contact with the outside world—other than this chance meeting with me, that is? You do? Great! Come take this survey..."

"Excuse me. Judging from your grizzly, bewildered appearance, it looks to me like you've been living in a remote cabin in the woods since childbirth. What's that? You were raised by wolves? That's incredible—and perfect! Come take this survey..."

... sadly, the people who responded to Newsweek's poll are card-carrying, flag-waving citizens of modern day America. They have access to news, politics and civic information; what they don't have is an excuse for their ignorance. (Think you can do better? Take the test for yourself.)

Details of the poll—and the implications of the results—are explored in Andrew Romano's story, "How Dumb Are We?" in this week's Newsweek. It's a short, snappy and fairly depressing read.

The piece finishes with a quote from Yale political scientist Jacob Hacker: “The problem is ignorance, not stupidity,” he says. To this, Romano aptly replies, "Whether that’s a treatable affliction or a terminal illness remains to be seen. But now’s the time to start searching for a cure."