NationStates Jolt Archive

http://www.blennus.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=718&Itemid

*no.. no, this can't be happening.. it's a joke - people this dumb cannot exist* :(

Why are US citizens so disliked?

Awww .... but I'm so likeable!

Oh wait ... there's a video ....

I don't want to watch it ... I'm lazy ... give me the nutshell.

http://www.blennus.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=718&Itemid

*no.. no, this can't be happening.. it's a joke - people this dumb cannot exist* :(

You know, I watched that, and I wasn't the tiniest bit surprised.

They are considerd to be the most powerful country in the world.

That is hillarious. Scary, but hillarious. Seriously, you guys need to bite the bullet and pay more taxes for better education. How can people that dumb even survive?

I wonder if these interviews were real... I shudder at the possibility.

*Pointing to Australia* "I never realized North Korea was so much bigger than South Korea."

Gah!

Meh, we do this kind of thing to ourselves. There's a game show that's in syndication based on it, Jay Leno does one. I'm sure that other countries have shows that are essentially "let's find an idiot on the street and laugh at thier lack of basic knowledge." It is frightening a little bit, but...

wow. I'm american and I don't know how the people on the video can be so ignorant.

Yeah people are pretty dumb here, but Im sure Europes got its share of inbred idiots. And not just the royalty. America has a shitty school system, yes, but you got a continents worth of variation on that, and itll change from one neighborhood to the next (public schools are funded by local tax dollars, so the richer areas have nicer schools). So mostly its the poor that are kept ignorant of the world...but this is true EVERYWHERE. I think its just more poignant in the US cuz were supposed to be the 'greatest' and all, plus these idiots have a right to vote for the most powerful man on Earth...*sigh*. Id love to stand outside a Burger King in France for a while and ask em whats goin on in the world. I bet you I will not be enlightened there either.

Awww .... but I'm so likeable!

Oh wait ... there's a video ....

I don't want to watch it ... I'm lazy ... give me the nutshell.

And that "in a nutshell", is the greatest irony of all. :p
Some Americans too lazy and stupid to find out anything about the outside world beyond what they're told. And that's why it's so easy for people like Bush to lead their country into a stupid, Stupid, STUPID war!

I'd like to think that people that dumb can't exist really, but F**K, man!
Why were those people so STUPID? :headbang:

And I know that it's not only Americans, which is the scary part. The stupidity culture SPREADING!

But America's given us some good stuff, too. Family Guy, The Simpsons, Futurama.

So my solution runs thusly:
Take all the people that have given the rest of the world good stuff (creators of above-mentioned shows, + a lot of other good things) and move them somewhere relatively safe.

Leave behind all the unduly evil and retardedly stupid (pretty much anyone who voted REPUBLICAN, in my eyes - you're complicit in this war, and as such are war-criminals, also), as well as anyone else who voted Pro-War - if there are crossovers between the two groups, take the crossovers to "Giant Bubba Fire-Dick Rapist and Killsaw Island" (TM) with the rest of the RE-FUGGLICANS. Jeez...they don't just deserve to go to prison, they actually deserve the torture that they bring upon their so-called enemies.

F#*k, man...it's as was already said: raise taxes, or spend less on the military and actually buy yourselves and education and health system, ferf**kssakes!
Thinking Australia and New Zealand were North and South Korea...HAHAHAHAHAHA!

The really scary part, is that I don't think those people in the video are stupid. They all look pretty normal, educated. They are just so ignorant about the rest of the world it's frightening.

They have an opinion about all the countries they mention, but know nothing about them. It's obviously media brainwashing and laziness.

And that "in a nutshell", is the greatest irony of all. :p
Some Americans too lazy and stupid to find out anything about the outside world beyond what they're told. And that's why it's so easy for people like Bush to lead their country into a stupid, Stupid, STUPID war!

I'd like to think that people that dumb can't exist really, but F**K, man!
Why were those people so STUPID? :headbang:

And I know that it's not only Americans, which is the scary part. The stupidity culture SPREADING!

But America's given us some good stuff, too. Family Guy, The Simpsons, Futurama.

So my solution runs thusly:
Take all the people that have given the rest of the world good stuff (creators of above-mentioned shows, + a lot of other good things) and move them somewhere relatively safe.

Leave behind all the unduly evil and retardedly stupid (pretty much anyone who voted REPUBLICAN, in my eyes - you're complicit in this war, and as such are war-criminals, also), as well as anyone else who voted Pro-War - if there are crossovers between the two groups, take the crossovers to "Giant Bubba Fire-Dick Rapist and Killsaw Island" (TM) with the rest of the RE-FUGGLICANS. Jeez...they don't just deserve to go to prison, they actually deserve the torture that they bring upon their so-called enemies.

F#*k, man...it's as was already said: raise taxes, or spend less on the military and actually buy yourselves and education and health system, ferf**kssakes!
Thinking Australia and New Zealand were North and South Korea...HAHAHAHAHAHA!


i found it funny too ... until i got to the last bit about NKorea and SOuth Korea... i frigging live in Australia - n i just realised that we are more likely to be taken out by a errant US missile than any hostile fire... jesus..

True, our public school systems may blow. And our citizens may be dumb, due to not only their own fault, in some cases.

Like not knowing where even England is, or France, or Germany, or...ugh!

But, whose got the best universities? That makes up for it, well, kind of.

I'm sure there is no such thing as a population that's stupid by design. Just a misallocation of funds. If you divert money from education you'll end up with ignorant people incapable of critical thinking (that's one of the things you get to learn in European schools). If you haven't learned critical thinking, you gladly embrace anything you've ben told as the truth.

Around this time last year I witnessed a pretty scary comment on the election by some woman interviewed on TV who said she was going to vote for Bush because "Kerry wants to ban the bible". She was absolutely sincere when she said this.

Another problem is the lack of independant medias. Most (I don't know of one country which doesn't) European nations have publically funded TV networks, required by law to remain unbiased. They compete with commercial stations, but do not operate under the pressure of share holders who want to see a profit. As a side effect, the other channels must retain the same level of credibility to survive, thus preventing blatant lies to be spread as truths.

*Twitch twitch twitch*
The more I see of stuff like this, and the more news I read, the more STAYING in Japan and never going back home sounds better and better.

"Yeah people are pretty dumb here, but Im sure Europes got its share of inbred idiots. And not just the royalty. America has a shitty school system, yes, but you got a continents worth of variation on that, and itll change from one neighborhood to the next (public schools are funded by local tax dollars, so the richer areas have nicer schools). So mostly its the poor that are kept ignorant of the world...but this is true EVERYWHERE. I think its just more poignant in the US cuz were supposed to be the 'greatest' and all, plus these idiots have a right to vote for the most powerful man on Earth...*sigh*. Id love to stand outside a Burger King in France for a while and ask em whats goin on in the world. I bet you I will not be enlightened there either."

american ignorance is due mostly to laziness and indifference. people here dont read much,and they dont know how to distinguish between fact and opinion when it comes to things like the news. i guess ignorance is bliss.

"if youre not pissed off,youre not paying attention..."

I think part of the problem with Americans not knowing where every other little tin ot country or dictatorship in the world is, is it's size.

It's a big federal country and folk living in the middle might know the states around them pretty much as you would in europe but not the ones X thousand miles away.

I have worked a bit in Uk schools and foun that most kids can't place European countries in order on a map but know vaugely that they are european.

They can however tell you where most former colonial places were.

Althought this tends to drop off when you get to the south of England where criminal stupidity is rampant and PEOPLE not ever kids can't tell you what countries make up the uk or in some scary cases if the UK is or isn't part of the EU, or running it these days since france took the huff and spat it's dummy out of the pram.

People on Americas coasts tend to be more aware of world geography than those in the centre probably just through exposure to other nationalities.

It just dosen't make sense that all americans are dumb there must be a big group of smart folk just getting on with it that don't get to go on tv.

"The really scary part, is that I don't think those people in the video are stupid. They all look pretty normal, educated. They are just so ignorant about the rest of the world it's frightening."

why do you think the US citizens think they live in the greatest nation in the world? because they know very little about the rest of the world. spend a little time in another country(like i have) and you will be enlightened. some places are horrible and i wouldnt want to live there,but other places are an improvement over US living....

http://www.blennus.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=718&Itemid


lol lol lol, thats sad.

i mean, other important connotations aside, do you not teach geography in the states? :confused:

It just dosen't make sense that all americans are dumb there must be a big group of smart folk just getting on with it that don't get to go on tv.

Actually, I would be evil enough to claim that a knowledge of geography is *very* overrated. Unless you plan a life in the Foreign Service or are involved in navigation how useful is any of it ever going to be? And even then the borders and names change enough that it merely becomes obsolete within 2 decades. Sad but true. ^o^

Unless you plan a life in the Foreign Service or are involved in navigation how useful is any of it ever going to be?
hm, thats the attitude that makes the people in the video seem so very ignorant. in fact, its an ignorant attitude full stop.

And even then the borders and names change enough that it merely becomes obsolete within 2 decades.
everything worth learning changes.
(and thats why maths isn't worth leaning, see ;) )

You think that's bad, try having people do algebra or basic math in the street. Math teachers and professors are in sharp decline in America.

Pure Metal,
Heh. But while you call that meme ignorant I note that even you can't come up with pragmatic reasons why a knowledge of geography matters. Knowledge is truly knowledge only to the extent that it matters in your life. If it doesn't matter then it is trivia. :)

Actually, I would be evil enough to claim that a knowledge of geography is *very* overrated. Unless you plan a life in the Foreign Service or are involved in navigation how useful is any of it ever going to be? And even then the borders and names change enough that it merely becomes obsolete within 2 decades. Sad but true. ^o^

You could say that about a lot of things. Why do you need to know about science unless you are going to be a scientist? Why do you need to know about history unless you are going to be a historian? Why do you need to know about philosophy unless you are going to be a philosopher?

Education is about more than giving you skills so you can work - it's an end in itself. It's about actually learning to be a well rounded person who isn't an ignorant moron.

i find to funny how they mistake the position for each one of those countries for australia my country is doomed and no i know where nearly every country is and i am not in the services even basic geography would make you see where those countries are i mean really.

You could say that about a lot of things. Why do you need to know about science unless you are going to be a scientist? Why do you need to know about history unless you are going to be a historian? Why do you need to know about philosophy unless you are going to be a philosopher?

Education is about more than giving you skills so you can work - it's an end in itself. It's about actually learning to be a well rounded person who isn't an ignorant moron.

A basic knowledge of science is still useful to a nonscientist. Likewise, a knowledge of history to a nonhistorian. But philosophy is even more of a waste of time than geography since it's really nothing more than navel gazing given a respectable title. Your point is well taken but for all you've said on behalf of the pragmatic value of geography you may as well been talking about the urgent need to know every sports score there ever was. Fields of knowledge do become obsolete. For example how many people still think that archery and riding horses are vital life skills the way Confucius did in the Analects? o_O

Actually, I would be evil enough to claim that a knowledge of geography is *very* overrated. Unless you plan a life in the Foreign Service or are involved in navigation how useful is any of it ever going to be? And even then the borders and names change enough that it merely becomes obsolete within 2 decades. Sad but true. ^o^

Rubbish!

http://www.humorplanet.com/joke.cgi?category=true&joke=10

The truthfulness of this page can be debated, but I know for a fact there was a surge of people travelling from the US to Austria for the 2000 summer olympics. If you're ever gonna have any chance of staying a jour with current international events, you have to know some geography. I may not ever visit Mongolia, but I know it's that great country between China and Russia, and if anyone says to me they're going to Ulan Bator, I won't seem like an uneducated simpleton.

"Yeah people are pretty dumb here, but Im sure Europes got its share of inbred idiots. And not just the royalty. America has a shitty school system, yes, but you got a continents worth of variation on that, and itll change from one neighborhood to the next (public schools are funded by local tax dollars, so the richer areas have nicer schools). So mostly its the poor that are kept ignorant of the world...but this is true EVERYWHERE. I think its just more poignant in the US cuz were supposed to be the 'greatest' and all, plus these idiots have a right to vote for the most powerful man on Earth...*sigh*. Id love to stand outside a Burger King in France for a while and ask em whats goin on in the world. I bet you I will not be enlightened there either."

american ignorance is due mostly to laziness and indifference. people here dont read much,and they dont know how to distinguish between fact and opinion when it comes to things like the news. i guess ignorance is bliss.

"if youre not pissed off,youre not paying attention..."

not true in australia the state gets money from the federal government to give us a good education and slowly the schools are receiving more money im only 15 and i know more then those people in that video i mean those mistakes wernt just ignorance but just plain stupidity.

Pure Metal,
Heh. But while you call that meme ignorant I note that even you can't come up with pragmatic reasons why a knowledge of geography matters. Knowledge is truly knowledge only to the extent that it matters in your life. If it doesn't matter then it is trivia. :)

Hmm. OK then, try this for size. I used to work in a large office in Scotland. We had a group of our US colleagues coming to visit for a training course. I received a phone call from one of them to ask how they would get from the airport to the office. I asked them which airport they were flying into, to which she replied "Brussels".

Practical enough for you? :)

A basic knowledge of science is still useful to a nonscientist. Likewise, a knowledge of history to a nonhistorian. But philosophy is even more of a waste of time than geography since it's really nothing more than navel gazing given a respectable title. Your point is well taken but for all you've said on behalf of the pragmatic value of geography you may as well been talking about the urgent need to know every sports score there ever was. Fields of knowledge do become obsolete. For example how many people still think that archery and riding horses are vital life skills the way Confucius did in the Analects? o_O

Why is a basic knowledge of science useful to a nonscientist and a knowledge of history to a nonhistorian but geography not useful to a nongeographer? Same with mathematics and a whole bunch of a other subjects - you are unlikely to ever need a knowledge of history, science or maths, except on a very basic level, but we still are educated in them.

Oh, and philosophy is a very important subject to discredit it as 'navel gazing' is dangerously anti intellectual. John Locke was a philosopher and his theories helped form the basis for the US constitution - "Life, liberty and property" remeber? Likewise, Rousseu inspired the French Revolution with his ideas - "Fraternity, equality and liberty". Philosophy also involves a great deal of critical thinking on many issues, which is a skill we use all the time.

If you wish to only learn skills which help you in your job, then good for you. However, I personally think that to be educated is a good thing in itself - and to be ignorant is a bad thing. People should have the choice, and to me a country where you were only taught 'what you needed to know in order to work' sounds like a hell hole.

Yeah people are pretty dumb here, but Im sure Europes got its share of inbred idiots. And not just the royalty. America has a shitty school system, yes, but you got a continents worth of variation on that, and itll change from one neighborhood to the next (public schools are funded by local tax dollars, so the richer areas have nicer schools). So mostly its the poor that are kept ignorant of the world...but this is true EVERYWHERE. I think its just more poignant in the US cuz were supposed to be the 'greatest' and all, plus these idiots have a right to vote for the most powerful man on Earth...*sigh*. Id love to stand outside a Burger King in France for a while and ask em whats goin on in the world. I bet you I will not be enlightened there either.

I'm English and as such have a predisposed "rivalyry/hatred" with/of the french. However... I bet you that every french person over 15 coming out of a burger king would be able to point out australia... and n.korea/s.korea... and probably a lot of the middle eastern countries too.

The fact is Western Europeans are taught their geography pretty well from a pretty early age.

Oh and btw... I'm pretty confident China is the most powerful nation in the world... it's just they really are isolationist at the moment and not as prominent in the general western society.

Laenis:

You make a very good point and I'm in complete agreement.

If I only learned what I needed for my job then I'd be crap at my job... you'd be surprised how much 'general knowledge' we use in every day life.

I'm English and as such have a predisposed "rivalyry/hatred" with/of the french. However... I bet you that every french person over 15 coming out of a burger king would be able to point out australia... and n.korea/s.korea... and probably a lot of the middle eastern countries too.

The fact is Western Europeans are taught their geography pretty well from a pretty early age.

Oh and btw... I'm pretty confident China is the most powerful nation in the world... it's just they really are isolationist at the moment and not as prominent in the general western society.

True enough. But I can't help wondering how many of them would know where Idaho was? I think we give the US a pretty hard time about their actual knowledge-my problem with them is not the ignorance, but the apparent nonchalance about said ignorance.

I'm English and as such have a predisposed "rivalyry/hatred" with/of the french. .

Ha! Very true old chap! :o)

i dont really think it is fair to judge americans as a whole such a small majority. Too be honest you could find people like that in england to. As much as i dont like the USA as a country and its politics etc.. there are some real nice ppl there. i also tink dat its better dat america is the powerfulest, coz if it wernt china would b and dats even worse.

i dont really think it is fair to judge americans as a whole such a small majority. Too be honest you could find people like that in england to. As much as i dont like the USA as a country and its politics etc.. there are some real nice ppl there. i also tink dat its better dat america is the powerfulest, coz if it wernt china would b and dats even worse.

Great use of the English language there... !!! (****ing hell, whatever happened to the Queen's English...).

Sorry, back to French-bashing... ;o)

Great use of the English language there... !!! (****ing hell, whatever happened to the Queen's English...)

i dont care, takes longer to talk/type Queen's English and im lazy, but well done for keepin it up.

yea i dont like french either, not just coz im english and its kinda inbuilt but also coz i lived there for almost 2 years and i rly hated it, im sure rly nice country side but the big towns/cites are mostly slums and the majority of the french people rly anoyed me.

learn (http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=26.588527,52.382813&spn=85.667648,197.718750&t=h&hl=en)

I'm English and as such have a predisposed "rivalyry/hatred" with/of the french.
why? what have they ever done to you?
:rolleyes: silly attitude... (sorry i have totally lost my SOH in the last few days)

What the chinese people are the niceist people in the world so what there country is communist that dosnt make them imperialist trust me if china wanted to rule the world we would all be the conquered

sorry if this is kinda off topic of what you guys are talking about.. i apologize.
this rant might be contradictory in some places.. i'm not sure

i kinda need to blow off some steam :headbang: .. people where i am (in korea) start cursing and swearing at you and basically say 'FUCKING USA' whenever you speak a word of english.. ugh... so. frickin'. annoying.

ya know, i just think that since america was always known as a world superpower, we get ridiculed for the SMALLEST of things...

not to mention the fact we're fighting silly little wars for a bunch of who think that "we were better off before the american soldiers came to iraq! before, we had food, electricity! we have nothing now!". oh come on! (my opinion only! don't shoot!)

if there wasn't a war, we wouldn't be in such a large economic crisis... we might've had a smaller one... katrina might have been less disastrous for all we know.. only way i could be happy is if they caught osama bin laden right about now...

seriously though, our government is diverting funds to building bridges in ALASKA while they could be bolstering our education, improving our hospitals, or helping those poor katrina victims.. :( i guess that's one thing that us americans have done wrong...

and the thing is, i've lived in america for most of my life, and i haven't seen people as ignorant like in that video, or people as dumb as those stereotypical americans that koreans make up in my part of town.. :confused: ugh... i seriously do NOT know why we are hated around the world..

i now come to the last part of my rant...

not to mention a bunch of people are rascist and dislike americans soooo much... and for no reason! if you speak english, they automatically start shouting stuff like: get out of our country! (in different languages of course)... *sigh* and i have no idea why they do so!

glad i got that out of me ... you can yell at me later for taking up so much space and drawing away from your current topic...

That story about Korea is funny. I was in Punjab, India for a few weeks last winter. Wherever I went, I was asked what country I was from. Invariably I got a big smile and a thumbs up when I replied 'United States'. I like the Sikhs and apparently they like the U.S.

wow. I'm american and I don't know how the people on the video can be so ignorant.It happens EVERYWHERE. I remember seeing something on the 4th of July once and people being interviewed in NYC kept getting basic things wrong. The German private channels routinely go out and interview people when something comes up, and there's always a bunch that screw it up rather bad too.
I don't know how representative the interviews are that they show, but channels tend to be out for entertainment and they're gonna show the stuff that's entertaining (in this case comical). Or how funny do you think it will be to watch someone get every question right?

Oh, and philosophy is a very important subject to discredit it as 'navel gazing' is dangerously anti intellectual. John Locke was a philosopher and his theories helped form the basis for the US constitution - "Life, liberty and property" remeber? Likewise, Rousseu inspired the French Revolution with his ideas - "Fraternity, equality and liberty". Philosophy also involves a great deal of critical thinking on many issues, which is a skill we use all the time.

If you wish to only learn skills which help you in your job, then good for you. However, I personally think that to be educated is a good thing in itself - and to be ignorant is a bad thing. People should have the choice, and to me a country where you were only taught 'what you needed to know in order to work' sounds like a hell hole.

I agree completely. The more educated you are, the more capable you tend to be of critical thinking. If there had never been any philosopy, then concepts we see as vital and fundamental today would never have occured to anyone. And take geography for example. All those people on the video were quite cheerfully saying the US should go ahead and invade other countries. If they had any knowledge of foreign countries, if they had ever stopped to take an interest and think about the people living in those countries, they wouldn't be so quick to advocate war.

Also, knowledge of other societies is knowledge of other possible ways of life. It helps you realise that many things you take for granted aren't a "norm", aren't absolutes. It gives you a basis to think and start questioning things.

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it
expects what never was and never will be." (Thomas Jefferson)

If you are ignorant, how can you possibly have an intelligent, critical view on politics?

My definition of "ignorance" would include making generalizations about a population based on a two-minute clip, which may have been edited down from eight hours or eight minutes for all we know..

In any case, most people, regardless their stance on the current war, will give you an answer if asked "which country should we invade next," in a flippant sort of way, even if only for a laugh. Sociable people enjoy that type of thing, I guess.

First I gotta say that NO China is NOT the most powerful. It may be big enough that even the US couldn't conquer it, but you have to take into consideration power projection. The US has carrier fleets in every body of water larger than your bath tub. China may have millions upon millions more troops than the US, but it has almost NO naval transport capacity. How is it ever going to threaten the US (other than nukes, which of course are the ultimate equalizer in war) if it cant get its troops anywhere near North America? Plus, a lot of its soldiers dont even have guns or training. What an effective fighting force! China was just recently pressured out of buying a piddly eight billion dollar a year oil company (Chevron makes like sixty billion) by the US. Not a move of the most powerful nation Id say.

Will it be the most powerful one day? YES
Is it today? NO

And to the guy guy who doesnt think education is necessary unless you're gonna use it in your job...how soon in life do you know what your career is going to be? It makes sense that you receive a general education including the basics of a lot of fields. THEN you go to college where you dont need to take math if you arent majoring in math or a related field.

What reason is there to know Geography? Eh, how about this...its the most important reason of all - chicks. Lets say you met a chick and she says shes from Afghanistan. Then you say 'Oh, are you Pashtun, Tajik, Uzbek?' YOU WILL GET LAID. Its good to know things in life, you never know when they will come in handy, so dont judge them before you learn them. Besides, the video showed a lack of BASIC knowledge, its not like anyone expects them to know the capital of Azerbaijan, or the Gross National Product of Myanmar. But AUSTRALIA? I mean, they saw the crocodile dundee movies right? Didnt that teach them anything?

Oh...and why do they hate us? HAHAHAHAHA!!!! Sorry, but...HAHAHAHA!!! Oh yes, it must be that theyre crazy. Or jealousy. Yes jealousy. They hate freedom too. Those bastards. Its not like we bomb countries for little or no reason other than profit and political influence, its not like we orchestrate coups that kick out democratically elected governments and replace it with military oligarchies. Its not like we funnel billions of dollars in military aid to violent TERRORIST insurgencies in countries we don't like. Its not like we support keeping third world countries in debt to us forever. I mean the IMF and World Bank are TRYING to help them, but they just sink deeper in debt...we dont know why. The IMF does its best. The poor World Bank wants only good for them. America has such good intentions for the world...cant you see?

Of course all of that is liberal lies right? Liberal hate America lies.

To be fair though, all powerful countries have operated this way. From Rome to Spain to Britain, and from us, to China, to the Martian Republic of Qwik'Perplaxa...as long as there are countries that compete against each other there will be violence and oppression. The most powerful one will always be able to get away with more brutality, and will need more brutality to stay in power longer. But its futile as in the end every Empire falls. And look at Britains standard of living now compared to the rest of Western Europe. Look at Spain, too.

.....We suck. How can people not know where France is?! Or Korea! Or any other damn country!? Ok, I'm from the U.S. and I'm ashamed of those people and us. I admit to everyone out there that I would rather live in Britain, because they never attack anyone who hasn't pissed them off, and plus they have a good education system. And also, weren't those countries labeled? I couldn't see because it was blurred.

My guess is that about 1/8 of the AMerican population knows things, like countries, news, history, math, literature, and other things, and that the other 7/8s of the people aren't god at anything. I gyuess I'm among the 1/8 percent of the populace.


*Go Britain!!!*

.....We suck. How can people not know where France is?! Or Korea! Or any other damn country!? Ok, I'm from the U.S. and I'm ashamed of those people and us. I admit to everyone out there that I would rather live in Britain, because they never attack anyone who hasn't pissed them off, and plus they have a good education system. And also, weren't those countries labeled? I couldn't see because it was blurred.

My guess is that about 1/8 of the AMerican population knows things, like countries, news, history, math, literature, and other things, and that the other 7/8s of the people aren't god at anything. I gyuess I'm among the 1/8 percent of the populace.


*Go Britain!!!*
Why are people in the U.S. so ignorant of so many things? Well, look who educates them. It's the government. What does the government do right? Not very damn much. Education is certainly not one of those things.

[edit]
Britain never attacks anyone who pisses them off? What would you call the little trouble in the Falklands? How about the fracas in Northern Ireland? Didn't the Brits help out against Iraq? Both times? Maybe you need to take off those rose-colored glasses and look at the world with a little more objective view.

... because you can do this in any country of the world with the same results. Just interview enough people and you'll get some hillarious answers. Only last week an radio host interviewed people and asked them if they were prepared to enter a competition to win a holiday in Bronchitis, but only if they were prepared to fly with Hypochondriac Airways. Lots of great answers - and most people wouldn't enter, because they had heard that this airline has a really bad safety record! If given the option they would fly with Air Virus, however :D

Oh, and apparently the beauty queen of Mecklenburg Vorpommern (one of the eastern states in Germany, bordering on Poland) thought that Polen is aproximately where Bavaria is (south of Germany) with Berlin (German capital) in the middle of it. :eek:

[edit]
Britain never attacks anyone who pisses them off? What would you call the little trouble in the Falklands? How about the fracas in Northern Ireland? Didn't the Brits help out against Iraq? Both times? Maybe you need to take off those rose-colored glasses and look at the world with a little more objective view.

There is a bit of a difference between pissing a country off and invading said country (like how Argentina invaded the Falklands). There is a bit of a difference between pissing a country off and setting up a terrorist organisation.

Oh, and apparently the beauty queen of Mecklenburg Vorpommern (one of the eastern states in Germany, bordering on Poland) thought that Polen is aproximately where Bavaria is (south of Germany) with Berlin (German capital) in the middle of it. :eek:

Ah well, that's beauty queens for you. Fortunately, they only make up a small percentage of the population. Especially in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

Ah well, that's beauty queens for you. Fortunately, they only make up a small percentage of the population. Especially in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Ooh, wonderful snide remark! Excellent :D

http://www.blennus.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=718&Itemid

*no.. no, this can't be happening.. it's a joke - people this dumb cannot exist* :(


One week of every year is designated National Brotherhood Week. This is just one of many such weeks honoring various worthy causes. One of my favorites is National Make-fun-of-the-handicapped Week which Frank Fontaine and Jerry Lewis are in charge of as you know. During National Brotherhood Week various special events are arranged to drive home the message of brotherhood. This year, for example, on the first day of the week Malcolm X was killed which gives you an idea of how effective the whole thing is. I'm sure we all agree that we ought to love one another and I know there are people in the world that do not love their fellow human beings and I hate people like that. Here's a song about National Brotherhood Week.

Oh, the white folks hate the black folks,
And the black folks hate the white folks.
To hate all but the right folks
Is an old established rule.

But during National Brotherhood Week, National Brotherhood Week,
Lena Horne and Sheriff Clarke are dancing cheek to cheek.
It's fun to eulogize
The people you despise,
As long as you don't let 'em in your school.

Oh, the poor folks hate the rich folks,
And the rich folks hate the poor folks.
All of my folks hate all of your folks,
It's American as apple pie.

But during National Brotherhood Week, National Brotherhood Week,
New Yorkers love the Puerto Ricans 'cause it's very chic.
Step up and shake the hand
Of someone you can't stand.
You can tolerate him if you try.

Oh, the Protestants hate the Catholics,
And the Catholics hate the Protestants,
And the Hindus hate the Moslems,
And everybody hates the Jews.

But during National Brotherhood Week, National Brotherhood Week,
It's National Everyone-smile-at-one-another-hood Week.
Be nice to people who
Are inferior to you.
It's only for a week, so have no fear.
Be grateful that it doesn't last all year!

- Tom Lehrer.... "National Brotherhood Week"...

Ok, did no one notice the purpose of the site this was pulled from?? This video was compiled from the dumbest answers the interviewer could get for the express purpose of being funny. I would imagine the majority of the people interviewed gave fairly educated and intelligent answers - these were not included because they did not fit the "vision" of the producers.

I attended 23 different public schools in Ohio and Florida growing up and I can assure you I know exactly where Australia is (and North/South Korea as well). All of the secondary schools I attended offered multiple foreign language courses, college level math and science courses and advanced classes in liturature, composition and social studies. I will admit to being a little dicey on labelling the multiple small countries in the Middle East and parts of Europe but I can tell you approximately where the countries are located. For a more realistic comparison (size, distance, location), how many Europeans can correctly label all the States on a US map? Are there ignorant people coming out of US schools? Of course there are, just as there are in other countries. However, the education is sufficient if you choose to avail yourself of it. If a student fails to learn, blame the STUDENT not the teacher.

I have travelled somewhat abroad and from what I can tell, the percentages of intelligent and stupid people are comparable wherever you go.

Dumb people are everywhere. Interview enough Germans and you'll find some who will identify Adolf Hitler as the current chancellor. You'll always get great answers.

What really stunned me was when they started doing that with politicians in Germany. Like asking "Why is the 3rd Oct the national holiday in Germany?" or "Who was chancellor before Kohl?" And you suddenly saw that even the people who should know MOST about your country's politics have no clue.

THAT is scary!

And no, because someone asked, I don't know exactly where Idaho is. I'd start looking somewhere in the middle of the country, maybe close to Ohio. But I don't know exactly where the states of the US are exactly located. I couldn't even name them all, at best I could maybe get to 40 or so (I usually forget about those tiny wannabe-states at the east coast :)). But at least I know that Idaho is a state of the US!

Tell me, is Nordrhein-Westfahlen a German or Austrian State (you COULD take a hint by the name itself, actually. IF you happen to know at least a bit about geography)? What about Graubünden (ok, that one's a trick question :)).

At least I won't start looking in the south of the US for Quebeck. Or try to find Miami in Alaska. But where would you put the town of Kiel within Germany? I'm not even talking about exact locations (hey, I'm not Google Earth either), but north or south?

THAT is something, at least, that I can start pinpointing on a US map. I don't know exactly where Miami or Albuquerque are, but I know where about to start looking for them. That's already enough for a foreigner.

But simply going "oh jeesh, look at how big north corea is, didn't imagine that... People? You had a WAR going on there about half a century ago! Did your dads or granddads tell you 'bout swimming to Charly? Do maps not play a role in history classes? Hell, do you care where you do battles?

Ok, ok, I know the answer: We have dropouts who don't give a rat's behind 'bout anything but their booze either. But a good deal of the people in the video look fairly normal. Decent, normal working people (ok, one lunatic who looks like he had too much of some aerosol in his brains, but aside of him, fairly normal people).

That, ladies and gentlemen, is scary.

-snip-
In primary school Königsberg always tripped me...I just couldn't find it anywhere - not in Germany, not in Austria, not in Switzerland... ;)

It seems agreed that the problem is stupidity...

Simply remove the safety labels off everything and let things sort themselves out.

- Tom Lehrer.... "National Brotherhood Week"...
Gotta love that man! :D

Ok, did no one notice the purpose of the site this was pulled from??We did...

For a more realistic comparison (size, distance, location), how many Europeans can correctly label all the States on a US map?Um... How good would you be in labelling the French départements and German Bundesländer? :p
I have travelled somewhat abroad and from what I can tell, the percentages of intelligent and stupid people are comparable wherever you go.Full agreement there. :D

Um... How good would you be in labelling the French départements and German Bundesländer? :p

Be nice just as for the region, the departement are like asking for the counties within states.

Though as a confession I can only name the departements that border the sea and a few inland ones. Oh, and Corsica, buts easy. I admit I don't the any German Bundesländer (well, I might do, but don't recognise the word "Bundesländer").

Be nice just as for the region, the departement are like asking for the counties within states.

Though as a confession I can only name the departements that border the sea and a few inland ones. Oh, and Corsica, buts easy. I admit I don't the any German Bundesländer (well, I might do, but don't recognise the word "Bundesländer").Heh, if you want to go down to a comunal level, we can always go for Landkreise in the Bundesländer... ;)

Of the top of my head...

Hamburg, Bremen, Berlin, Schleswig-Holstein, Niedersachsen, Baden-Württemberg, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Bayern, Saarland

Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt, Thüringen

I'm sure I forgot some somewhere...goddammit, I used to know them all. Meh, now they're gonna get rid of all this petty Federalism anyways - so I'm excused. :D

EDIT: Forgot Hessen and Rheinland-Pfalz. Bugger.
http://userpage.chemie.fu-berlin.de/adressen/bl/bundeslaender.html

Look while there ARE Americans damn near that stupid, and of course there ARE Americans even stupider, I am not proud or happy to admit it, this PARTICULAR interview WAS faked. 1. It took too long, 2. The initials and crawler were faked to LOOK like CNN but it was some govno like CMMY.
Someone wanted to make fun of the sort of American who thinks like that and did a pretty damn good job of it. They were faking it it was a SATIRE. A quite disquietingly good one....
----------------------------------------------------------
Balkanization is a Good Thing!

EDIT: Forgot Hessen and Rheinland-Pfalz. Bugger.
http://userpage.chemie.fu-berlin.de/adressen/bl/bundeslaender.html...and the 17th Bundesland: Mallorca. :D

Hej Bonus Points for anyone who knows where Zahumlje REALLY used to be!
------------------------------------------------------------
Balkanization is a Good Thing!

Hej Bonus Points for anyone who knows where Zahumlje REALLY used to be!
Sounds like its located somewhere in Former Yugoslavia.

Heh, if you want to go down to a comunal level, we can always go for Landkreise in the Bundesländer... ;)

Oddly enough, I might be better at the communal level :confused:

Oddly enough, I might be better at the communal level :confused:Right, what's LDS tell you? :p

Look while there ARE Americans damn near that stupid, and of course there ARE Americans even stupider, I am not proud or happy to admit it, this PARTICULAR interview WAS faked. 1. It took too long, 2. The initials and crawler were faked to LOOK like CNN but it was some govno like CMMY.
Someone wanted to make fun of the sort of American who thinks like that and did a pretty damn good job of it. They were faking it it was a SATIRE. A quite disquietingly good one....

Thank god someone figured it out - my question would be not "How could Americans be so stupid as to misplace Australia", but rather.. how could four pages of forum posters not catch that the "news media" in the movie was "CNNN"?

Does the extra letter not tip anyone off? How about the strange color scheme?

After reading the first page of "omg 'mericans r so dum", I wanted to jump right in and post the obligatory "hello, this is a comedic production?" response - but I figured I'd actually read and hope someone else had already done it.
It's rather sad it took until the middle of the fifth page of posts to find someone who actually paid attention. :rolleyes:

How about the strange color scheme?

not everybody watches, or gets, CNN.

it may be satire but that doesn't necissarily mean all these people are actors, nor that these aren't the real opinions of real people on the street.
frankly there's no way of knowing

Of the top of my head...

Hamburg, Bremen, Berlin, Schleswig-Holstein, Niedersachsen, Baden-Württemberg, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Bayern, Saarland

Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt, Thüringen

I'm sure I forgot some somewhere...goddammit, I used to know them all. Meh, now they're gonna get rid of all this petty Federalism anyways - so I'm excused. :D

EDIT: Forgot Hessen and Rheinland-Pfalz. Bugger.
http://userpage.chemie.fu-berlin.de/adressen/bl/bundeslaender.html

It's all much, but little different than me, being Virginian, naming off the counties of North Carolina (there are 99 of them), or the Lousiana Parishes (63 of them).... There is alot of information, geographically speaking; and no one could be expected to know all of it.... And I don't expect an European to know all 89 counties and 40 independent cities of Virginia (on a side note, there are a total of 43 Independent Cities in the United states.... 40 of the 43 are in Virginia [Alexandria, Bedford, Bristol, Buena Vista, Charlottesville, Chesapeake, Clifton Forge, Colonial Heights, Covington, Danville, Emporia, Fairfax, Falls Church, Franklin, Fredericksburg, Gales, Hampton, Harrisonburg, Hopewell, Lexington, Lynchburg, Manassas, Martinsville, Newport News, Norfolk, Norton, Petersburg, Poquosson, Portsmouth, Radford, Richmond, Roanoke, Salem, Staunton, Suffolk, Virginia Beach, Waynesboro, Williamsburg and Winchester]... An independent City, is a City which does not reside, or is not part of a surrounding County... Some such as Norfolk and Richmond have been independent for some time... Others such as Virginia Beach [formerly Princess Anne County], Chesapeake [formerly Norfolk County] and Suffolk [formerly Suffolk County] were created by the city "absorbing" the entire county... they, plus the other independent cities of Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk and Portsmouth form a regional area known as "Hampton Roads"... which is effectively a metro-region composed of nothing but independent cities, the two "largest" being Suffolk [400 square miles/1036 km^2] and Virginia Beach [310 square miles/802.9 km^2]...

I really hope they had to interview several hundred or a thousand people to find the few really stupid ones on that video. My god, those morons are allowed to vote! No wonder Bush did so well.

wow. I'm american and I don't know how the people on the video can be so ignorant.
Ignorance knows no border, religion or race. You could walk up to people on the street in any country and find people just as ignorant. This does not, however, mean they are "bad people." All it means is that some frakkin' idiot with a camera has weeded out all the sane answers to his questions, and has made sure to canvas people during the day, when most of the educated types are working! I'm unimpressed. :rolleyes:

Thinking Australia and New Zealand were North and South Korea...HAHAHAHAHAHA!

I think its mainland Australia and its southern-island state, Tasmania, they were pointing at.

I really hope they had to interview several hundred or a thousand people to find the few really stupid ones on that video. My god, those morons are allowed to vote! No wonder Bush did so well.
"One man, one vote" was well-established by ... guess who! :D

doesn't necissarily mean all these people are actors, nor that these aren't the real opinions of real people on the street.


Thats the real point... and frankly the real worry.... :(

Thats the real point... and frankly the real worry.... :(
You people need to get a frakkin' grip! Ignorance is, unfortunately, universal, and has many sources. I remember someone asked a farmer in France what he had experienced during the war. He didn't even know there had been one!

"One man, one vote" was well-established by ... guess who! :D
I know it's not possible, but I really wish we could test everyone who wants to vote just to see if they can actually understand the issues that the politicians they're voting on will have to deal with.

also the names on the map are actually reading iran or NK or France... - its more showing that peole dont think to question the map... (or the person...) just shows the failure in critical thinking again really...

You people need to get a frakkin' grip! Ignorance is, unfortunately, universal, and has many sources. I remember someone asked a farmer in France what he had experienced during the war. He didn't even know there had been one!

Pointing at Australia and Tasmania, then going "Actually, now that i think about it.... i never realised North Korea was that much bigger than South Korea" doesn't perturb you in the slightest!? :eek:

Thankfully, those are the minority and your two party system should keep them in check :D :p

I know it's not possible, but I really wish we could test everyone who wants to vote just to see if they can actually understand the issues that the politicians they're voting on will have to deal with.
As if.

This has been an issue for as long as there have been democracies. The original policy in the US was to only allow male property owners to vote. I don't suggest we backtrack. :rolleyes:

Dumb people are everywhere. Interview enough Germans and you'll find some who will identify Adolf Hitler as the current chancellor. You'll always get great answers.

No, no, no. Just... no. That's the equivalent of a American naming the KKK as the ruling political party.

What really stunned me was when they started doing that with politicians in Germany. Like asking "Why is the 3rd Oct the national holiday in Germany?" or "Who was chancellor before Kohl?" And you suddenly saw that even the people who should know MOST about your country's politics have no clue.

THAT is scary!

Unification day. Schmidt. We don't know anything because the rest of the world wants us to hate ourselves for something that happened 60 years ago. Next.

And no, because someone asked, I don't know exactly where Idaho is. I'd start looking somewhere in the middle of the country, maybe close to Ohio. But I don't know exactly where the states of the US are exactly located. I couldn't even name them all, at best I could maybe get to 40 or so (I usually forget about those tiny wannabe-states at the east coast :)). But at least I know that Idaho is a state of the US!

Idaho is a north-western state. Got it's name from a hoax. Nowhere near Ohio.

Tell me, is Nordrhein-Westfahlen a German or Austrian State (you COULD take a hint by the name itself, actually. IF you happen to know at least a bit about geography)? What about Graubünden (ok, that one's a trick question :)).

German, north Rhein region. Graubuenden is Swiss.

Am I done here?

Pointing at Australia and Tasmania, then going "Actually, now that i think about it.... i never realised North Korea was that much bigger than South Korea" doesn't perturb you in the slightest!? :eek:

Thankfully, those are the minority and your two party system should keep them in check :D :p
Hmm. Well, perhaps if that frakkin' "reporter" hadn't labeled all the countries incorrectly, a few more would have picked the correct ones! DUH! :mad:

Hmm. Well, perhaps if that frakkin' "reporter" hadn't labeled all the countries incorrectly, a few more would have picked the correct ones! DUH! :mad:

Can't tell that Australia isn't France eh? :p

Be afraid Aussies! Be :D very afraid

As if.

This has been an issue for as long as there have been democracies. The original policy in the US was to only allow male property owners to vote. I don't suggest we backtrack. :rolleyes:
Not really backtracking. More like standard safety measures. After all, we don't let severely retarded people get driver's licenses. A bunch of morons swinging an election toward bad candidates can kill more people than a couple of mentally retarded drivers.

Why do the dumbest of us keep getting on TV?

Oh well, gives me something to laugh at.

That is hillarious. Scary, but hillarious. Seriously, you guys need to bite the bullet and pay more taxes for better education. How can people that dumb even survive?

welfare

Not really backtracking. More like standard safety measures. After all, we don't let severely retarded people get driver's licenses. A bunch of morons swinging an election toward bad candidates can kill more people than a couple of mentally retarded drivers.
So make a proposal. I'd be willing to bet that the liberal Democrats would have appoplexy! And, I might add, rightly so. :p

welfare
Sigh. :rolleyes:

What is the next area that needs to be attacked in the war against terror?

Washington, DC :mp5:

The leadoff of this thread is a joke post.

That said, I feel that it's only a matter of time before being like an American spreads all over the world.

America was first with massive unsecured consumer credit - and it's spreading all over the world now. Even though it's a stupid thing to get into that much debt.

America was first with nasty fast food - and it's spreading all over the world. Even though McDonalds food is bad for you.

America builds a stealth fighter - and guess what - the Europeans are building them now. Everyone wants one.

Rap and hip-hop, and the associated culture of baggy pants is sweeping the world. Even the Palestinians in Gaza now have chavs.

So, in a century, the world will be full of idiot chavs, living in social welfare nanny-states, eating fast food three times a day, and up to their necks in massive debt.

So make a proposal. I'd be willing to bet that the liberal Democrats would have appoplexy! And, I might add, rightly so. :p
It's unworkable. Both parties would object, and how do you write the test so it's considered fair? I didn't say that it was possible, just that I wish we could do it.

<snipped>
So, in a century, the world will be full of idiot chavs, living in social welfare nanny-states, eating fast food three times a day, and up to their necks in massive debt.
And then we can all live in peace. :)