Speaking of Monkey Brains — a Map of Influential American Fools from ThinkProgress — and Some Surprising Numbers from CJ Werlman about the Prevalence of Idiocy in US Culture

© 2014 Peter Free

 

03 July 2014

 

 

Nothing new, but a reminder about the magnitude of foolishness among us

 

From provocative CJ Werleman:

 

 

A 2007 National Constitutional Center poll found that two-thirds of Americans couldn’t name all three branches of the U.S. federal government, nor a single Supreme Court justice.

 

Another poll found that 91 percent couldn’t name the current Chief Justice, which is staggering considering the number of high profile, politically polarizing cases deliberated upon by the nation’s highest court in recent years . . . .

 

When respondents were asked whether they could recall any of the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment, a majority could name only free speech.

 

More than a third were unable to list any First Amendment rights.

 

The National Constitution Center also found that 42 percent of Americans think the Constitution explicitly states that “the first language of the United States is English;”

 

and 25 percent believe Christianity was established in the Constitution as the official government religion.

 

Only 40 percent of adults know that there are 100 Senators in the U.S. Congress,

 

while a great majority of Americans have no idea of when or by whom the Constitution was written.

 

This rising tide of ignorance threatens the very foundation of American democracy.

 

An embrace of infantile emotionalism has supplanted political literacy.

 

 © 2014 CJ Werleman, Americans Are Dangerously Politically Ignorant -- The Numbers Are Shocking, AlterNet (17 June 2014) (extracts)

 

 

Obviously, if people don’t know “shit” — they cannot make decisions that accord with Reality

 

ThinkProgress reinforced Werleman’s point by mapping climate-related stupidity among American governors.

 

The map, here, shows the distribution of governors’ regard for and against the reality of global warming and their willingness to begin to address it.

 

Notice that most of the country is red and orange — meaning that the states involved essentially reject the idea of human responsibility for climate change and the (arguable) need to do anything about it.

 

 

The moral? — A ship of fools, captained by fools

 

We’re “gonna” wander into the rocks and metaphorically sink — still shouting mindlessly about something other than the rocks’ reality.

 

In the process of sucking water, we are probably also going to be too stupid to recognize that we’re sinking.

 

This is how empires (and evolutionary side trails) end.