This blog title is not designed to capture your attention with negativity or ridicule our level of education as a people, but rather to show how far too many Americans fail to understand or appreciate our current political and economic condition. Recent data from reliable sources point out that large segments of the public either live in an alternative reality zone or simply refuse to see what’s right before their eyes. Let’s take a look at the Ignorant American.
Crime continues to be a top level concern for the American people who regularly claim that our country is in a serious decline because of crime. And yet data from the FBI and other sources point out that there has been a record drop in murder in 2023 and smaller but significant drops in other crimes. There are pockets of crime/murder in certain urban areas and of course we still face the scourge of mass murder but overall the data point to a country that is not crime ridden or filled with murder.
60% of Americans believe we are in a recession and 50% believe we are in a serious economic decline. Both percentages are not only untrue but also the exact opposite of our current economic situation. As a nation we are living in a period of considerable growth and economic strength. Key indicators like Gross Domestic Product, employment and even inflation point to a country that is on the mend after Covid. Sure their are income inequalities and price- related hardships, but we are by no means in a recession, in fact the opposite is true.
The Ignorant Americans can also be seen in our poor sense of government and history. According to Gallup polling only 34% of the public know that there are three branches of government, while 69% of Republican continue to believe the 2020 election was stolen. Finally, the millennial generation, the leaders of the future, do not have a firm grasp of history as they possess only a weak understanding the evils of slavery, the rise of Hitler and facism, and the impact of the Holocaust on Jews- 63 % did not know that 6 million Jews were exterminated.