US people are stupid?

My friend featured and linked this video from youTube to his Facebook page.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uhh89RVs3ps

I think this street interview video is bias… First, it’s not appropriate to say that American people are stupid because they do not know some general knowledge or current affairs (although I must admit that some of the questions are really basic). They are just ignorant, living in the world of their own. Second, most of the interview took place in the Texas state, which mostly consists of rural or partially-urban areas. The samples they chose do not reflect the whole USA. Moreover, they may crop out some interviews with the interviewee providing the ‘positive’ and correct answers.

Basically, I think what is fair to comment and criticize about is their education system. All these embarrassment, ‘stupidity’ or ignorance could only be displayed with the US education system which failed to emphasize and engage their new generations to the global view and general knowledge.

For many other questions about the current affairs, I believe there are always correlations of the habit of reading news (international and national news, rather than entertainment, sport, or local news only) with one's knowledge about current issues. I really think that it is not difficult to follow and keep up-to-date with what is happening around us in this world (in a larger scope, roughly). It’s the mind of ‘not my business, I don’t care’ or/and ‘I have no interest’ that bars them from this daily simple effort. No, to me, it’s not about whether you have interest; it’s your obligation as a global resident and a good citizen in your country.

Well, don’t only mention about USA, if you go elsewhere in the world, you will still find a portion of people are ignorant to some general knowledge and/or current affairs (although the level of ignorance would be varied). It may be laughable but that is not funny. If you do the same survey in Bukit Bintang shopping district, then you might find a large number of teenagers or grown-ups are ‘immune’ to these knowledge. Nevertheless, I bet their knowledge on world map couldn’t be any worse than those US people in the video, >95% people could give the country starts with an ‘U’ correctly (you should understand sometimes the interviewee could be nervous and gave the wrong answer at first, that does not mean they don’t know) and >95% people know UK currency is Sterling Pound and Tony Blair is UK prime minister (the latter I have less confidence). All should know how to answer ‘How many sides are there in Triangles?’

For further questions about current issues in today's world, I have doubts. ‘What is the religion of Israel?’ the chances are likely that more muslim could answer it correctly. ‘Which countries are termed by G.W.Bush as Axis of Evil?’ could prove to be difficult to answer on the street. ‘Who won the Vietnam war?’ – Don’t expect too much, even if you ask them about the recent local war history ‘When is Malayan Communist guerillas ceased fire with government?’ , they could totally don’t know about this very important chapter of nation’s history event, not surprising at all. So, we must not be ’50 steps laughs at 100 steps’ (a Chinese idiom). It seems like a general trend that many people in this world (especially youngsters nowadays) become more ignorant, not because that they don’t have the access to information (excluding the factors of poverty and lack of formal education), just that they are becoming more individualistic/ self-centered in this neo-liberal world.