carlfense Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/06/11-bizarrely-wrong-beliefs-americans-have-about-themselves/239810/#slide1 Link to comment
Enhance Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Some of those are just mind-boggling. It reminds me of when Jay Leno will ask random people on the street very basic questions about our government, and they're unable to answer them or are completely off base. Link to comment
T_O_Bull Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 The old argument about foreign aid being a trivial 1% of the budget is in my mind crap. When I talk money I talk dollar amounts and what good they could do if re-allocated. T_O_B Link to comment
carlfense Posted March 15, 2012 Author Share Posted March 15, 2012 The old argument about foreign aid being a trivial 1% of the budget is in my mind crap. When I talk money I talk dollar amounts and what good they could do if re-allocated. T_O_B I agree that some foreign aid could be better spent domestically (if spent at all). That said, I think the point of the "less than 1%" fact is that people grossly overestimate the percentage of the federal budget spent in this area. Link to comment
strigori Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 One that just hurts my brain is 20% think the sun revolves around the earth. I don't even have the words... 1 Link to comment
zoogs Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 Earlier this year, Republicans called for defunding the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which in turn funds NPR and PBS. There has meanwhile been a common understanding that CPB funding constitutes significant percentage of the budget . Only 27 percent of respondents recognized that federal spending on public broadcasting represents well under 1 percent of the federal budget (the actual cost is about 1/100th of 1 percent), while 7 percent of respondents thought the costs were over 50 percent of the budget -- which in real terms is the cost of Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and interest expenditures combined. Ha! Wow. Link to comment
Stu Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 But what if I AM an above average driver??? Link to comment
Lil' Red Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 One that just hurts my brain is 20% think the sun revolves around the earth. I don't even have the words... Yeah, I was caught off guard by that one as well. Link to comment
ZRod Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 The old argument about foreign aid being a trivial 1% of the budget is in my mind crap. When I talk money I talk dollar amounts and what good they could do if re-allocated. T_O_B If we re-allocated foreign aid we could damage or lose major trading partners like Japan or hurt our image in places like Haiti and the Pacific Island countries. Foreign aid is a great and cheaper way to prevent war when it's all said and done. If we give people food and shelter when they are in need they will have a positive image of us and we are less likely to end up in places like Afghanistan losing American and coalition lives. Granted some foreign aid seem to be counter productive like the billions we spend on Israel and Egypt, two countries at odds with each other. Link to comment
JJ Husker Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 It's no wonder we get the elected representatives we do if the same people taking part in these polls are also voting. If a person cannot identify the 3 branches of government, they should not be allowed to vote and probably deported. And the 20% who think the sun revolves around the earth should be deprived of oxygen for a substantial amount of time. That might help clean up the gene pool. 50% of the budget for NPR? Wow! Link to comment
ZRod Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 It's no wonder we get the elected representatives we do if the same people taking part in these polls are also voting. If a person cannot identify the 3 branches of government, they should not be allowed to vote and probably deported. And the 20% who think the sun revolves around the earth should be deprived of oxygen for a substantial amount of time. That might help clean up the gene pool. 50% of the budget for NPR? Wow! That's not fair, I couldn't remember what the Legislative branch was called. But I did know what it consisted of. Can I stayz plz!!! Link to comment
walksalone Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 It's apparent the majority of people polled in this are from New Jersey Link to comment
tschu Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 Most people don't realize how stupid the average person is. The average person is really, really dumb. Ignorance is bliss, I guess... Link to comment
Landlord Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 Most people don't realize how stupid the average person is. The average person is really, really dumb. Ignorance is bliss, I guess... So I AM above average Link to comment
carlfense Posted March 15, 2012 Author Share Posted March 15, 2012 It's apparent the majority of people polled in this are from New Jersey And/Or Mississippi. Link to comment
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