US officials flunk test of Amerian history, economics, civics

US officials flunk test of Amerian history, economics, civics

news.yahoo.com

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US elected officials scored abysmally on a test measuring their civic knowledge, with an average grade of just 44 percent, the group that organized the exam said Thursday.

Ordinary citizens did not fare much better, scoring just 49 percent correct on the 33 exam questions compiled by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI)

"How can political leaders make informed decisions if they don't understand the American experience?" he added.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Isn't that the truth, the people that run this country understand very little of their own heritage. The fact that we have to depend on their wisdom as our guide through life is actually really sad.

Thats the reason history repeats itself. Not many are willing to look back at the mistakes of our forfathers and change things for the better, that is the reason why we are in this situation right now. Our Economy, the Wars were fighting, the many Loss of Jobs. We as Americans make up the richest of the richest and yet we repeat the same mistakes over and over again.

One of those sad truths.

news.yahoo.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Thats what happens when graduates of prestine colleges get their degrees via visa and master card and internet cheat sheets.

In the end..they dont know jack about the real world.



Cheers!!!!

Activities that dull Americans' civic knowledge include talking on the phone and watching movies or television -- even news shows and documentaries, ISI said

Not just civic knowledge I would have to say but all knowledge. However, I do not think documentaries are that bad, as long as they are based on facts, evidence, and "truth", then why not?

Anyway, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

reply to post by RFBurns


All to true....

Colleges now a days teach us knowledge but very little wisdom, and in the fast paced world we're being conditioned to live in, very seldom do we have the capability to stop ourselves and look back at the mistakes we make.

I truly think history and philosophy should be subjects that we should focus more on. Gives people the wisdom necessary to succeed in the world but to avoid the same mistake twice. *I know, off topic*

Our higher educational system is crap. Just an arm of the elitist machinery giving people ideas that if they dump tens of thousands of dollars (or borrow it and give it to them) they become better human beings who are worth more than anyone who lacks that 'social currency.'

I'm sure you've all met them..., the minute they declare their degree'd status they look for the respect they have come to believe they've "earned" via the dollars they dumped into some university or other.

It would be interesting if someone on here could get hold of those tests and provide them in a test for us all to do on here and get everyones scores. It would be very enlightening to find out if we are as smart as we would have ourselves believe.

Tried to finds the test, only found out info that they where basic questions that a person wanting residensy and or citizenship would answer.

I don't know if its true or not, it was in regards to the same article, just posted somewhere else.

This was very interesting, I listened to this on the Michael Nedved show on the radio last week. I then in turn took this test myself and although I found it to be more difficult than I anticipated, I still scored 78% on it. I find it pitiful that a dumb schmuck like me who has absolutely no political background, training, education, or experience could score 30 percentage points higher than our elected officials. Hell, maybe I will run for office and use this as my platform lol. If anyone would like to take the quiz for themselves here is the link to it.

www.americancivicliteracy.org...

Originally posted by Maxmars
I'm sure you've all met them..., the minute they declare their degree'd status they look for the respect they have come to believe they've "earned" via the dollars they dumped into some university or other.

I do not particularly agree with that statement, although I would say it does apply to many people. I worked my behind off in college, I did not cheat, and did substantially more research than was required for my courses. I made it my responsibility to learn and understand everything I could. Does this make me smart, absolutely not, do I feel as though I earned my degrees, absolutely I do. I did not dump a lot of money into my education either as an under graduate or as a graduate student; instead, I worked hard got good grades and got accepted into groups such as NSCS which gave me grants for my education. I spent hundreds of hours researching and writing essays to win grants. And yes I am damned proud of the effort I put into my education. None the less, after all of my efforts, I still only scored 78% on this quiz. I am in no way excusing the performance of our politicians on this quiz, as I firmly believe that in their positions they should have scored substantially higher than I did; however, this quiz was more difficult than I anticipated it to be.

reply to post by DarrylGalasso


30/33. Missed 13, 25, and 30. 25 and 30 I just thought too much about what was the "correct" answer. It bothers me both that people get so down on colleges on this board. I'm currently a grad student in economics and it's helped me tremendously. Either way, I guess my platform for my eventually run for office will be "I actually know what our government originally stood for."

FSBlueApocalypse and DarrylGalasso;

I extend my apologies to you both. My generalizations were far too broad and condemning. I wish to note that yours is the high ground here.

In the way of meager excuses I will offer only that my experiences have led me to the point of making such statements. I know there are many who deserve praise and recognition for the effort you put into your education; in a way that is what the grants and other support offered is supposed to represent.

Unfortunately, I have had the experience of traveling down the hallways of some fairly impressive institutions; and I have found the leadership there alarmingly wanting. We have an embedded class of elites in this world, stationed in high places, and gifted, along with their titles and pedigrees, with a limitless capacity to preach their 'wisdom' which seems to have little foundation in reason or education. Worse, they may not be criticized, because they are 'a cut above' the rest of us. As always seem evidenced ONLY by the social currency they've obtained at some school.

How do these people, who often can't manage even their own lives, get to the positions of power? I am told it is in their education. Yet that education never seems to manifest itself, and I suspect it is because there is too much opportunity to 'get a degree' because of a sponsor, like mom, dad, or a big-shot family member or friend. Or perhaps, just having the right last name.

They diminish your accomplishments, and they seem to be hell bent on securing perpetual control of the institutions they infest, by ensuring their 'successors' are like minded or at the very least 'socially' acceptable to their own peer group. It has little to do with education, thus to me, it renders the entire practice of going into massive debt to achieve the 'potential' benefit - empty.

There are those of us who aren't 'gifted' enough to succeed by virtue of our inability to devote enough time to that single aspect of our lives. But for people like me it may be more likely that I'm just not that smart. Not being smart enough is an injury that I can bare, one can't know everything, but then comes the insult. The insult of seeing inept, clueless, or otherwise misplaced 'peers' promoted past you because they have a degree - even though it is acknowledged that such a 'status' does not translate into increased competence or value to the mission of the organization.

Sour grapes? Perhaps. But there IS truth in the observation nevertheless.

The fact that our socialite elite country club gets to the positions of power in our country is appalling. They are hardly EVER presented tot he voters as they are, they are Hollywood polished, and higher education certified..., and they seem to lead us down the toilet - EVERY TIME. I'm tired of the degree being the social currency, because they say so - while admitting that in practice, (generally speaking) it means nothing other than they are academically experienced.

[edit on 25-11-2008 by Maxmars]

28/33 Missed 10, 12, 13, 15, 27.... Not bad though..... would have passed college with a B

Considering I'm not an elected official, quite proud of myself lol.