As hard as it is to admit this and as much as I know most of know dozens of people that don't fit this description, the sad truth is that there are hundreds of thousands more who do. Perhaps millions. All emphasis mine.

America's problem: We're too dumb
By LZ Granderson, CNN Contributor

CNN) -- I'm a sucker for all of those man-on-the-street interviews that late-night shows do to reveal just how dumb Americans are.

It's fun to laugh at the people who struggle with simple math problems or are unable to find any country we're at war with on a map.

More than a few even get tripped up trying to name the branches of government.

It's all fun and games until you remember that elections have consequences, and that many of those people who said they could name the president -- but not the commander in chief -- will soon be standing in a voting booth, armed with a ballot.

If you think government dysfunction is the country's No. 1 problem -- and according to a recent Gallup poll, a third of the nation does -- then maybe we should take those hilarious late-night interviews a little more seriously.

You see, while we were busy waving our angry finger at Washington, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released its findings from the Survey of Adult Skills. The group's research measured the literacy, math and computer skills of 5,000 adults from 16 to 65 and compared those numbers with that of 21 other countries.

The good news is that we didn't finish last in anything.

The bad news is that we're in pretty sad shape when not finishing last is the good news.

Trailing every country in the survey except Italy and Spain in math is rough. But how the OECD's findings may play a role in elections and the economy is disturbing.
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The OECD findings seem to be consistent with that of the U.S. Department of Education, which estimated back in 2009 that some 32 million adults lacked the proficiency to read a newspaper. This was captured by a witty USA Today headline about the findings: "Literacy study: 1 in 7 U.S. are unable to read this story."

That was kinder than the New York Post headline after the new OECD report: "U.S. adults are dumber than the average human."

An uneducated workforce is a hindrance to us all and an uninformed electorate is the thorn in democracy's side, taunting us with the words of Joseph de Maistre: "Every country has the government it deserves."

While it seems there's a chance we could be headed toward an agreement that will put an end to the partial government shutdown, we must not overlook the fact that the man most credited/blamed for the disruption was on the Senate floor quoting "Green Eggs and Ham" during his filibuster.

But this is not just a Republican problem. I can't help but notice the correlation between a more partisan nation and a more dumb-ass nation -- regardless of party. Remember Ted Cruz is not the first politician to drag Dr. Seuss into the mess that is Washington.

In 2007, during the immigration debate, Sen. Harry Reid read a piece from the New York Times that contained quotes from "The Cat in the Hat."

"And this mess is so big. And this mess is so deep and so tall, we can not pick it up. There is no way at all!"

Reid then went on to say: "Mr. President, some would say that is what we have in the Senate today -- a big mess. But if you go back and read Dr. Seuss, the cat manages to clean up the mess."

I use to think politicians such as Cruz and Reid quoted from children's books as a way to insult the intelligence of their political foes. Now I'm wondering if it's because they're afraid using big words would lose the rest of us.
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Educators will tell you the best catalyst for prolonged academic success is early childhood education.

Among the 38 OECD and G20 countries that participated in a report released last year, we were 28th in the percentage of 4-year-olds who are receiving early childhood education.

Hmmm, those late-night interviews aren't so funny anymore.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/14/opinion/g ... b-america/

IMO, title should have read "..., We're too Ignorant".
The former suggests lack of intelligence while the second suggests lack of education/knowledge.

Hmmmmmmm, considering the shennannigans going on in DC, maybe I should give this more thought.

When you go on a bus tour of Seattle and some woman with a mid-west accent says to some ladies from Hawaii, "Welcome to America" and the only ones who laugh are the Canadians, you should know you've got a problem.

You can't be serious.

I wouldn't doubt it Jim. But then again, while Canadians could be more knowledgeable, they still buy into the ignorant crap coming from their tea party government.

Less and less, Sid.
Maybe we're smartening up a wee bit... or it's only temporary and we'll continue voting with blinders on.
Either way, we'll know in 2015 unless the Harper CONservatives find a way to "prorogue" elections.

oskar... As long as the average CONservative supporter continues to believe the meme that their party is best for the "economy and jobs" - it won't matter how corrupt or fascist their government becomes because those idiots will still vote for them.

I am. Just as I'm serious about the SanFrancisco dentist I was talking to in the park beside the Golden Gate Bridge. I told him I was from Canada and he said "Canada.....that's somewhere up near Montana, isn't it."

To be fair to Americans, who we seem to be trashing here, I'm not so sure Canadians would fare a lot better than they did. Our problem isn't partisanship, it's apathy. We're so comfortable we don't notice what is going on. It's how Harper and his cronies manage to get away with what they do.

Thank goodness Toews is gone! Now we have to get rid of Kenney, Ambrose and a few others. Those dumb clucks will go along doing Harper's bidding until election time when he will plunge giant knives into their backs.

jim, apathy is definitely NOT limited to Canadians ~ it's an epidemic ~

Sooz

I don't think it's exactly apathy. According to Sociology 101, it's narcotizing dysfunction. The media presents so much information that the populace becomes numb and fails to act.

I even say it; I can't care about everything!!!!!!

I don't know anyone who cares about everything, Kathy ~ we all prioritize, based on our own values ~ the problem, as I see it, is that far too many people don't care about anything that doesn't adversely affect them personally ~

Sooz

I'd not give them that much credit.
IMO, they care about insignificant nonsense so much that they constantly get screwed over without even realising it.
Consider all the ink generated by that little tart Miley Cyrus... an inconsequential individual if ever there was one.
Yeah, yeah. Beiber's one of ours but hey, it would appear that y'all adopted him so he might as well stay with y'all.

oskar: Distractions are a big part of it. Another issue is the effects of "smart" phones. It seems people are so distracted by those glittery screens they've forgotten how to observe and communicate.

I think it goes beyond simply saying Americans are dumb.

When I read what many citizens, politicians and pundits are saying, one thing stands out: They don't know what they are talking about but they believe they do.

When we see things like...

- a raped woman cannot get pregnant
- Obama is a Muslim
- not raising the debt limit could actually be a good thing
- the shutdown is Obama's fault

These are not generic comments like saying we need to lower taxes or government is too big. These are specific points, points that are just plain wrong and yet they believe them to be correct.

I guess what I'm so poorly trying to say is that this isn't simply ignorance, it is ignorance coupled with self-righteous confidence in one's beliefs.

In other words, there is huge difference between someone saying "I'm not really sure if we landed on the moon or not" and someone saying "I know for a fact the moon landing was faked".

I will actually go further than that. People don't even KNOW that things will adversely affect them personally.

I keep coming back to my friend Barbara praising Mitt Romney. She said, "Don and I don't like Obama. When Romney was called no one else would serve but he volunteered. I think it all leads back to our conservatism."

I just about threw up when I read that. How many Rs were running this time? The R debates looked like a Clown College. No one else would serve?????

Barbara has a very low paying Human Services job working with the elderly for the State of PA. This is a government job and the type Rs don't generally want to waste their money on. Helping poor old people. Don never worked much. Mostly part time ministry jobs at little churches in rural PA. He's had cancer and has Medicare, and he collects social security. As far as I can tell they are FULLY dependent on government. As far as I can tell they are very close to if NOT the 47 percent Romney doesn't care about.

So iow, it's blind faith without knowing the facts. Many of us have called it "willful ignorance" before, but I am seeing something beyond that now.

Not only are they too lazy to search out the real facts and listen only to their favorite Fox news personality, but they don't want to know them.

It's as if they fear the truth because it would shatter their beliefs. It's as if religious beliefs have gotten entangled with political facts in their minds and have become one and the same, even if they are lies. "Mr. *Whoever*, who proclaims to be a Christian, says so, so it must be the gospel truth."

Another sure sign that we need a clear separation of church and state.

Amen