9.29.2004
Vox Ignorami
Jonah Goldberg highlighted examples from James Bovard's book, Freedom in Chains, of mass ignorance found in the United States. Some of them are less than comforting:
In 1995, an ABC News/Washington Post poll found — two months after the election that put the GOP in control of the House for the first time in 40 years — that 39 percent of Americans didn't know what the Contract with America was.
In 1996, a Washington Post/Harvard survey found that "four in ten Americans don't know that the Republicans control Congress; and half either think the Democratic Party is more conservative politically than the GOP or don't feel they know enough to offer a guess."
In 1987, 45 percent of adult respondents to one survey answered that Karl Marx's dictum "from each according to his ability to each according to his needs" was in the U.S. Constitution.
In 1991, a study commissioned by the American Bar Association found that a third of Americans did not know what the Bill of Rights was.
Defies belief. . . Who am I kidding? Of all the people I know, very few of them are politically-oriented, -motivated, or even -interested. When life is good...and it is good here in America, folks tend not to care about party politics. There's no reason to.
Mr Goldberg's piece this morning at NRO is a quality read. He makes good points about current 'political' movements, such as gay marriage and the push to re-enfranchise convicted felons. These are not populist movements because everyone wants them, they are afloat because the people within those respective classes are making a lot of noise. Well, the re-enfranchisement issue probably has a lot to do with Dems wanting to get as many folks onto the liberal plantation as possible...but I get his point.
Jonah Goldberg highlighted examples from James Bovard's book, Freedom in Chains, of mass ignorance found in the United States. Some of them are less than comforting:
In 1995, an ABC News/Washington Post poll found — two months after the election that put the GOP in control of the House for the first time in 40 years — that 39 percent of Americans didn't know what the Contract with America was.
In 1996, a Washington Post/Harvard survey found that "four in ten Americans don't know that the Republicans control Congress; and half either think the Democratic Party is more conservative politically than the GOP or don't feel they know enough to offer a guess."
In 1987, 45 percent of adult respondents to one survey answered that Karl Marx's dictum "from each according to his ability to each according to his needs" was in the U.S. Constitution.
In 1991, a study commissioned by the American Bar Association found that a third of Americans did not know what the Bill of Rights was.
Defies belief. . . Who am I kidding? Of all the people I know, very few of them are politically-oriented, -motivated, or even -interested. When life is good...and it is good here in America, folks tend not to care about party politics. There's no reason to.
Mr Goldberg's piece this morning at NRO is a quality read. He makes good points about current 'political' movements, such as gay marriage and the push to re-enfranchise convicted felons. These are not populist movements because everyone wants them, they are afloat because the people within those respective classes are making a lot of noise. Well, the re-enfranchisement issue probably has a lot to do with Dems wanting to get as many folks onto the liberal plantation as possible...but I get his point.
// posted by HunterByrd @ 6:06 AM 
