Dumbed Down America
Posted: July 4, 2011 Filed under: U.S. Economy, U.S. Politics, We are so F'd | Tags: Calvin and Hobbs, Declaration of Independence, Fourth of July, History, ignorance, Marist poll 28 Comments
Time to bring back civics classes. Nearly a quarter of Americans don’t know when the Declaration of Independence was signed, or what country we declared independence from. From ABC’s The Note:
A Marist poll released Friday shows that only 58 percent of Americans know when the country declared independence. Nearly a fourth of respondents said they were unsure and sixteen percent said a date other than 1776, when the Declaration of Independence was signed.
Young people posted the most troubling scores with 41 percent of people ages 18 to 29 saying they were unsure when the Declaration of Independence was signed and 27 percent saying the wrong date.
One in four Americans do not even know which country the U.S. gained independence from. The correct answer, of course, is Great Britain, although 20 percent of respondents were unsure of that fact.
Again, age made a big difference. Middle-aged Americans – ages 30 to 44 – guessed the wrong country more than any other age group, or 10 percent of the time. The younger generation was less likely to be flat-out wrong, but was more likely to be unsure. About one third of Americans age 18 to 29 said they didn’t know for sure which country America won independence from.
That is so sad. I was just thinking this morning that I can remember the days when we were proud to be Americans–when it was important to know our history and be aware of our rights. What happened? That was before American culture became synonymous with corporate culture–before being greedy, selfish, and callous became the American way.
The final changeover happened under Ronald Reagan. That is when so many Americans bought into the notion that money was more important than human relationships, when “religious” people began to embrace “prosperity” rather than the old, outdated notions of “faith, hope, and charity (love).” Under Reagan, young people stopped preparing for careers in which they could help others or the society as a whole and started focusing on whatever job would bring in the most money.
Barack Obama came of age under Reagan, and as far as I can tell, although he calls himself a Democrat, the current occupant of the White House is totally sold on the Reagan philosophy. He doesn’t seem to know much about history or basic economics, even though he has degrees from two elite universities.
Not only is civics missing from high schools, but also Americans don’t get educated by the media anymore. When I was a kid, there were actually serious shows on TV that analyzed politics–not shouting, arguing shows, but real news shows. Today young people are watching TV shows like “Hoarders” and “Jersey Shore.” I’m next generation will learn to be even more greedy, selfish, and narcissistic than previous generations. I hope I’m wrong.
I know I sound like a bitter old woman–sorry about that. I grew up in the ’50s and ’60s, a time of great social change; but looking back now, it was a much simpler time. My generation has been called every insulting name in the book–selfish, narcissistic, rebellious. Tom Wolfe labeled us “the me generation” for looking within and seeking ways to become more awake and aware–for trying to understand human consciousness and for going into therapy.
Am I just doing what Tom Wolfe did–judging and misunderstanding the generations that came after mine? Please tell me I’m wrong!
peej
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Sky Dancing 
That’s why lying liars like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck get away with lying every day. No one knows the difference.
I can hear the fireworks going off in Boston right now.
My poor dog is freaking out. I really hate the way grown up boys set these things off and scare the heck out of children and animals. There should be some place where they can all go and act out and leave the rest of us alone.
Now someone is setting off firecrackers really close. It sounds like it’s right outside my window.
best twitter update evah!
GirlDetective Rachel
I hate to complain about the noise from my neighbors’ illegal fireworks display, but I just had a ‘Nam flashback, and I was born in 1983
When I was growing up, there were serious documentaries being produced by the “Big Three Networks” – ABC, CBS, and NBC. Now those documentaries are gone; replaced by “reality shows”.
The Museum of Broadcast Communications notes that “network documentaries virtually disappeared during the Reagan years”, which MBC views as “one indicator of the ebbing of the New Deal influence on American culture” :
http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=documentary
That’s exactly what I’m talking about. Thanks, Beata.
Happy Independence Day! When did 30-44 get to be Middle Aged? That makes me 6 days older than dirt.
Since Marist started hiring 18 year olds to do their polling! I am older than the hills according to those little pissants.
average age of death = 72 to 76 … divide by two and voila …. I don’t think 45 is middle age unless the majority of people live until 90 … or am I being a little bit over analytical about this and base it on group thought wishful thinking?
Yes, you’re being overly analytical. Are you saying you think 45 is the beginning of old age?
But I’ll tell you one thing. That group of 35-44 year-olds are probably the ones that got the most brainwashed by Reagan. Of course Obama’s older than that.
I’d say 45- 65 is peak life and there after is old age.
May the 4th be with you. 😉
I think middle aged is about 45-55, but what do I know? I’m old as dirt.
I think the closer you get to 55 the less like old age it feels. I keep revising middle-aged upwards
I’m 63, and I don’t feel old yet. But I’ve had to accept that everyone else thinks I am.
I think middle age is from 40-59.
not unless you think you’re going to live until 118.
I still think middle age is 40-59.
_Pout_
It’s very literal-minded to take “middle aged” to mean the exact median of average ages. Midlife is a fairly lenghty period–probably longer than 10 years. It’s generally thought of as the prime of life–when people have established careers and families and begin to care for the next generation. In modern times, 35-44 is still quite young. I can’t believe you think 45-90 should be considered “old age.” If you insist midlife has to start at 35, then it should extend to at least 59, as Branjor said.
I think there’s a prime life too past midlife which is past young adulthood … I think of middle age as a passage when you come to terms with being the authentic you. That “authentic you” period comes in your mid 40s, 50s, up to early 60s. To me young adulthood is when you discover what it’s like being an adult then mid life is when you adjust that definition of adult life to be more in keeping with accepting yourself, and then when you come to terms with that, you go to your peak life which lasts until around 65 when you hit your senior years… but then, you’re the psychologist … so we’ll just call that my hypothesis. So, I don’t consider any of you being midlife folks because you’re way past your midlife crises. You’re at your peak adult life.
That makes sense to me, Dak.
Here is a clip about middle age, from the movie On Golden Pond:
http://www.anyclip.com/movies/on-golden-pond/miglitoris-and-middle-age/
Ethel: “They’re a nice middle-aged couple, just like us.”
Norman: “If they’re just like us, they’re not middle-aged.”
Ethel: “Of course they are.”
Norman: “Middle age means the middle, Ethel. Middle of life. People don’t live to be a hundred and fifty.”
😉
And now Josh Groban is singing “America” on PBS’s Capitol Fourth show. A very nice boy, I’m sure, but he’s not Simon or Garfunkel. Sorry, Josh.
The real deal:
I love this song, Beata. Thanks for posting the video…Happy 4th!
BTW … here’s a candidate I could get behind … a pro-choice Gay Republican who calls himself a feminist and says that Quiterella doesn’t know what a feminist is. He also was a big Hillary Clinton supporter last time around.
He sounds good to me! I’ll send him a few bucks!