If you wonder why the public keeps electing politicians who lie to them and have no real solutions to the problems facing this country, then this questionnaire by the Pew Research Center should help you to understand. Between September 25th and 28th, they asked a random national sample of 1,002 American adults 12 questions. These were not difficult questions, and anyone who keeps up with the news on a fairly regular basis should be able to answer most, if not all, of the questions -- and just to make it a bit easier, they made it a multiple choice questionnaire (giving four possible answers to each question).
Their results are shown in the chart above. Only 1% could answer all the questions, and only 31% could answer more than half of the questions. A whopping 58% couldn't even answer half of them. It's pretty obvious that most either don't listen to the news on a regular basis, or what they hear goes in one ear and out the other. Then they show up to vote on election day without a clue as to what is happening in the country and the world -- leaving themselves open to voting for the candidate with the propaganda that sounds like what they want to believe (the propaganda that agrees with their own personal prejudices).
Now you may be thinking these were not easy questions, but were designed to trick respondents. I don't think so, and to show you, I list those 12 questions below:
1. The Islamic militant group known as ISIS controls territory in which of these countries? (Egypt, Kuwait, Syria, Pakistan)
2. What does the term "common core" refer to? (school curriculum standards for language and math, the military's code of conduct, abdominal exercises, a newly developed microprocessor)
3. Which one of these African countries has recently experienced a major outbreak of the Ebola virus? (Egypt, Liberia, Morocco, Sudan)
4. What is the national unemployment rate as reported by the government currently closer to? (3%, 6%, 9%, 12%)
5. In which of the following predominantly Muslim countries are there more Shia Muslims than Sunni Muslims? (Iran, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Indonesia)
6. What is the federal minimum wage today? ($5.25, $7.25, $10.50, $12.50)
7. What is the industry that has primarily contributed to the recent economic boom in the state of North Dakota? (oil, tourism, soybeans, auto manufacturing)
8. On which of these activities does the U.S. government currently spend the most money? (transportation, social security, foreign aid, interest on national debt)
9. Who is the current Prime Minister of Israel? (Ariel Sharon, Hosni Mubarak, David Cameron, Benjamin Netanyahu)
10. Approximately what share of Americans live at or below the federal poverty line? (5%, 15%, 25%, 35%)
11. Ukraine was once a part of. . . (Czechoslovakia, Soviet Union, Scandinavia, Yugoslavia)
12. Who is the current chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve Board? (Alan Greenspan, Sonia Sotomayor, John Roberts, Janet Yellen)
You may notice that I didn't give you any of the answers. That's because I urge you to go take the test yourself. I'm betting the readers of this blog can answer at least three-quarters of the questions (and probably more than that). Go on over and prove me right.
The chart below shows the percentage that got each of the questions right.
I got 11 out of 12 correct. On two I had to go with my "most likely", rather than be certain, (of those two, got one right, one wrong)
ReplyDeleteWell done.
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