There are moments when, at least in a political sense, I find that I'm glad I'm several thousand kilometres away from the land of my birth.
One of them came today: according to a current poll, 18% of Americans believe that openly Christian Barack Obama is a Muslim.
Not, of course, that being a Muslim, in itself, would be anything to be ashamed of.
But since we can imagine that probably nearly every person among that 18 per cent thinks it is something reprehensible -- and since the belief is simply wrong -- it's hardly a good day for those who would want to defend the sanity of the American world of media and politics.
[ADDENDUM]: 'Also, 19% of Americans believe that the sun goes round the earth. Ignorance, probably, though the proposition that truly radical distrust – why, I can see it moving with my own eyes - has permanently lodged itself in a fifth of the US population is quite intriguing.'
From here.
2 comments:
Frankly, it seems to me that idiocy is not constrained to the US, it's just, ah, perhaps more obvious there more often and apparently flying in the face of a supposedly better education than most of the world gets.
But then again, I'm a misanthrope, so feel free to ignore me...
Hi Geoff,
Yeah, I'd go with your argument; but it's the obviousness that drives me a bit nuts.
And what're you talking about?! It's the misanthropy that draws us together! Why would it make us ignore you...?
Thanks for the comment!
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