The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns

Although Where I stand and others out there are disturbed by a recent survey, I thought it was a pretty moronic to evaluate political knowledge in relation to social knowledge.

What I'm speaking about is a survey in the papers lately weighing the knowledge people in the States have regarding the US Constitution in comparison to the knowledge they hold relating to the tv show The Simpsons.

The article states that only 1 in 4 people can name more than 1 of 5 freedoms in the First Amendment, whereas more than half can name at least 2 family members from The Simpsons.

First off, do people out there read the Constitution once daily, sometimes more often?

H*ll no.

Does that make them bad people, or lacking in knowledge about their country?

Again, h*ll no.

It makes them normal. Personally, I think they'd be wackjobs if they did otherwise.

On the other had, do people out there watch The Simpsons daily, sometimes more often as a way to relax at the end of the day or to spend some quality time as a family?

H*ll ya.

Does that make them bad people?

Again, h*ll ya.

(tee hee, kidding of course)

See, that's just the thing. You can't expect people, kids and adults alike, to know bits of information that are not engrained in their daily lives and that are not generally entertaining. (Unless, of course, you're a history buff or poli-sci freak, and for some reason, you get off on that stuff - to each his/her own).

And, what disturbs me about Where I stand's position on the matter is that JHWhicker believes it is a fault in high school education that is the cause of this "societal breakdown".

Sure the education systems are faulty (as with all occupations), but this can hardly be to blame in this case as the people being surveyed are adults, not teens presently in the school system.

If anything, we would have to blame the education system of 20 or 30 years ago for not teaching the US Constitution more thoroughly.

And, come on folks, as if any of us remembers sh*t we learned in high school. That was a time of rebellion and making out with strangers (if we were lucky enough).

But, really, what it comes down to is repetition. We see a heck of a lot more social entertainment in our lives than we do politically dry documentation.

Although relevant, it's just not captivating. [The survey pdf report]