America - Home of the Politically Ignorant

Harlingen, Texas, October31, 2008: For most of my adult life I have thought that America must rank in the top tier of politically ignorant nations.  I came to this conclusion after reflecting on my own primary and secondary education and observing a public that lacks the basic knowledge of our governmental system.

I attempted to correct what I perceived as a huge problem by entering into the public education system with a degree in government.  I cannot speak knowledgeably about other states, but in Texas the only education a student receives in government is one semester during his or her senior year in high school.  That is correct, a student must take one semester in government and one semester in economics to graduate.  That is about four months of a twelve year education is spent explaining how we govern 300 million people.

If that sounds impossible to you, it gets even worse.  The one semester on government is divided, with half of it being spent on Texas State Government and the second half on U.S. Government.

So, in the Lone Star State a high school graduate walks off the campus with about two months of knowledge on how his or her country functions in this world.  But, it is even worse than it appears.  The one-year I taught government, most of my students were in advanced placement…or college bound.  I utilized the complete text during that year, having my students read everything cover to cover.  The teacher across the hall took his students through one third of the same text.  That was their education in government.

One other thing to consider is only about 68% of Texas students complete twelve years of education and receive their diploma.  This translates into 32% of all Texas students have received absolutely no instruction in American government.

Needless to say I left public education in disgust after only one year in the classroom.  I spent the next ten years on the university campus where a bit more in governmental education was required.  To earn that four-year degree, undergraduates were required to complete one course in state and one course in U.S. government.  This means 6 hours of a 120 to 128 hour degree were spent learning about how we run the United States of America.

For a long time, watching the Tonight Show, I thought Jay Leno just culled the stupidest answers out of many good responses and placed the dumb comments on television.  Slowly, my mind was changed.  We really do have a vast army of dummies walking our planet.

This week John Stossel had a very intereting column.  His contention was…. it would be better if some people never voted.  In the column he wrote about the political ignorance he encountered around the country.  He asked simple questions at a rock concert where a voter registration drive was being held.  Those signed up to vote couldn’t tell him the number of Senators in Congress or Representatives in the House.  Their answers ranged from 12 all the way to 50 per state.

In Washington D.C. people were asked to identify pictures of public officials.  All could name Barack Obama and John McCain.  However, that seemed to be the extent of their knowledge. Nobody knew Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg, but everyone knew Judge Judy.

Stossel argued it might be politically incorrect to suggest…but it wouldn’t be a bad idea for the politically uninformed to stay home on Election Day.  I tend to agree.

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Distrust of Media and Polls Make Election Impossible To Predict

Harlingen, Texas, October 29, 2008:  Here is a paradox.  A writer, writing for the media, an article that basically says the media is in the tank.  This story is further complicated because it exposes a conundrum.

If we were to take what we hear and read throughout the American mainstream media and decide it were a proven fact…. Barrack Obama has already been elected President of the United States of America.  However, Mark Twain said it best…”If you don’t read the newspaper, you are uninformed; if you do read the paper you are misinformed.” Today that idea could be expanded to include television and radio news.

According to a survey conducted by Sacred Heart University early this year, faith in the American media has been in steady decline for more than a decade.  Today less than 19% of adults believe most of what the media is telling them.  Almost 24% of Americans say they believe little or nothing that is presented by the mainstream media.  Only a little more than half of the people believe some of what is read in news publications or is electronically transmitted.

Most observers believe that people have decided there is little attempt by the media to inform the public.  Instead, they believe most news outlets are attempting to influence opinion.

In January of this year pollsters found that the public feels:
The New York Times is left leaning… 41.9%
National Public Radio is left leaning…40.3%
MSNBC is left leaning…38.8%
CNN is left leaning…11.9%
Fox News is right leaning…48.7%

On accuracy of reporting Fox News got 27%, CNN received 14%, NBC received 10.9%, ABC was given 7%, CBS pulled 6.8%, MSNBC received 4% and PBS earned 3%. None of these figures show much confidence in the media as it is being offered to Americans today.

There is also wide spread belief that publications and electronic media are utilizing opinion polls as news sources rather than actually gathering the news using their own personnel.  There is also a strong belief that media outlets generating such polls attempt to shape poll questions to project specific outcomes they are seeking.

So, how do Americans respond to all of this polling?  According to Web Wire in May of 2008, four out of ten people, a huge 40%, say they pay little or no attention to political opinion polls.  Thirty three percent of those questioned say they only pay some attention.

As to accuracy, fifty seven percent of the people think polls are somewhat accurate, while twenty percent feel they are not very accurate and 10 percent feel they are not accurate at all.  Added to this, a whopping 83% of Americans say the results of political polls have little to no influence on how they vote.

What does this entire mean to the presidential election?  Well, if Americans don’t believe their own national media and Americans don’t really trust any of the opinion polls…. and most of the media and polls are projecting Obama victory… it would appear the country doesn’t accept this premise. To any objective mind, this would say the results of the presidential election are still impossible to predict.

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There Are Other Ways To Campaign. Maybe We Can Take Some Lessons

Harlingen, Texas, October 24, 2008:  Texas has an early voting law.  That gave me the opportunity to hold my nose more tightly than in most elections, visit the polls and cast my ballot for the least offensive candidate running.  I did this with the hope it would help rid my mind of almost two years filled with false statements, verbal bribes, race baiting, class warfare, back stabbing, political lies and enough bovine excrement to fertilize all crops on the planet.

Sadly, this country seems to have reached a stage in its development where civil discourse is no longer possible.  To many people it appears to be open warfare between the haves and have-nots.  Campaigning has also progressed to a stage where “party” seems to be more important than principle and winning is more important than doing the right thing for the country.

Perhaps things would change for the better if we formulated a common sense or “Roberts Rules of Order” way of campaigning.  The political landscape might improve even more if we could develop a system where average guy, “Joe the Plumber” types could effectively run for office and have some chance of winning an election. As things stand today only the very rich and political elite even have a chance to reach high office.

I lived for some years in Japan.  During my stay in that country I always had a chuckle at the way the Japanese ran political campaigns.  To these western eyes their approach to elections was quite comical.  Today, I reflect back on what I remember and it doesn’t seem so strange.  In fact, we might be able to learn a few things from Japanese campaigning.

First of all, their campaigns are quite short.  During the years I lived in Tokyo, the actual campaign was limited to four months.

Political parties may run advertising in the media stating their specific platforms.  When the campaign season starts, those ads can no longer be run.  The individual candidates are not allowed to advertise on television or in the print media.  This is to keep the elections open to all and not dominated by the rich.

There is a fixed dollar amount that candidates can spend on their campaigns.  There are a specific number of campaign posters, brochures or other handouts that can be purchased and used.

I even recall one election where one candidate’s posters were all removed because he violated the rules and printed them too large.

Candidates are not allowed to go door to door seeking votes.  They are not allowed to enter businesses.  They cannot have campaign buttons with their photograph displayed.  No telephone campaigning or email solicitation is allowed.  T-Shirts advocating a candidate cannot be worn.

In Japan every person running for office wears a sash with his name and party printed across its face.  The candidate must stand in a public place and speak to the general public when seeking votes.  This is usually in front of a train station because most people in Japan travel by train.  The person running for office has little time to reach the fast moving crowd, so he usually just keeps repeating his name over and over again and asks for votes.

The only thing there is no limit on is talking, so every candidate has a large van or truck equipped with big speakers.  They all drive the streets of the city with loud speakers blaring out their particular campaign pitch.  This goes on constantly, early morning until dark.

They can also send volunteers into neighborhoods to inform residents a candidate will speak and ask people to attend.  Then in some open space, the truck will pull up; the candidate will stand in the bed of the vehicle and recite his rationale for running.

It is my understanding that things are changing a bit in Japan today.  In the past, candidates would tell their audiences that they knew nothing about politics or the issues, but if elected they would study hard and learn.  This was to show they were not self centered or arrogant.  They all wore white gloves while campaigning as a symbol of having clean hands.  Today the white gloves seem to be gone and candidates are getting a bit more boastful.

I’m sure we will never see the day when gutter politics and yammering at us until we are brain dead come to an end.  But, wouldn’t it be great to have no television ads, no radio messages, no late night telephone calls, no printed distortions and an end to multi-million dollar political campaigns?  Four months of loud speakers sure beats two years of blather.

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