Posted on 09/05/2007 4:50:53 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued
I want to comment further here on the Miss Teen South Carolina answer. She was asked a question in a pageant: "Recent polls have shown a fifth of Americans can't locate the United States on a world map. Why do you think this is? " Here was her answer: "I personally believe the US Americans are unable to do so because some people out there in our nation don't have maps, and, uh, I believe that our education, like such as South Africa and, uh, the Iraq, everywhere like, such as -- and I believe that they should. Our education over here in the US should help the US -- should help South Africa and should help the Iraq, and the Asian countries, so we will be able to build up our future for our children." Now, this is sad. This is sad, and people played this audio all over. It's over ten million hits on YouTube, Mr. Snerdley. You've got the audio? (sigh) Okay, I'll play it, but I'm not doing this to make fun of her. A lot of people did this. I'm not trying to make fun of her. There's a reason for this. There is an explanation for this answer.
(Excerpt) Read more at rushlimbaugh.com ...
Well that's just isolation and lack of travel. When I worked a project in NYC, I regularly came across college graduates - sometimes engineers - that had no concept of anything outside of the city. Texas in particular is so large that it gets viewed like a whole country by its inhabitants. From one edge to its furthest isn't all that much shorter than the distance from Georgia to NY.
When that many people see something the same way, the problem isn’t with all of them.
It seemed utterly clear to me.
And isn't that how many public figures "answer" questons, too?
Sadly, our popular "culture" allows far more credence for "presentation" rather than content.
Most politicians and a majority of the entertainment "industry" are empty suits and vacant faces.
This girl will go far.
I knew a young guy I worked with that actually asked me if Wyoming was a state. Whoa, that was unreal.
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Man on the street interview by a local radio host: Should people from New Mexico be allowed to live in Maryland?
Most answers were negative.
Public schools are not responsible for a kid’s education. It is primarily the responsibility of the kid and their parents to make sure they get the best education possible, and learn as much outside of the schools, and make the effort to learn. Too many take a passive approach of “OK, I’m here, teach me.”
Don’t be sorry, it was the best post on this thread, and right on topic.
One of the visuals was a repeated raising of one shoulder (shrug), as if to say, “I don’t know.”
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No one has mentioned how stupid was the question. Why should any teenager be put in the position of forming an opinion about the educational deficiencies of other people. It was a sandbag of a question, and a contestant could hardly respond by “I haven’t a clue, have you?”
My take on it. She was coached by her handlers to answer any question with its Bushs fault. Most US Americans do not have maps (Too poor to afford them). Sniff sniff Cant even afford to go to a public Library.
She was also told to throw in some foreign policy thing, thus the Africa, Iraq thing. They just didnt coach her good enough. Plz excuse the puncuation errors as I use a Japanese keyboard and its hard to find some small things.
Perhaps my life has been sheltered,...
(((((((((
Perhaps you have not traveled much outside the States.
Many people latch on to our use of the word “American” as another reason to feel resentful and to accuse us of arrogance. They do not call our country America, they call it “the States” and they call us “yankees/yanquis”. They will say that Canadians are Americans too, for example.
I always agree with them, by saying, “yes, they are North Americans, but they don’t go by that name, they prefer to distinguish themselves as Canadians/Canadiens. [Everything has to be written twice in Canada/Canada’.]
I fail to see Your point.
The girl has nothing going on between the ears.
I “read” people’s body language for a living.
She’s cute, She’s just dumb.
She’ll find somebody that has a lot of money and a high tolerance for stupidity , marry Him ,have a couple of kids...She’ll be a good trophy wife.
OK. Then I am glad I could provide so much entertainment and inspire so many feelings of superiority.
LOL!
That is true. I've only been out of the USA on two occasions, and did not have a lot of interaction with people.
"Many people latch on to our use of the word “American” as another reason to feel resentful and to accuse us of arrogance."
Can you give me some idea of where folks feel this way? India, Germany, France?
What is so bad about 1/5 of Americans not being able to find the US on a map? If you think about it, it’s not really suprising. Grading on a curve, that’s the bottom 20%.Those are really bad F students. Not surprising at all that they can’t find the US on a map. They can’t even find their geography books for cryin out loud!
It’s just a matter of following the Pole Star any night. ;’)
Oh really??
Ever seen the MOBS showing-up to an audition for American Idol?
>-doink!-<
"There are mistakes I've made in the last month I wouldn't want repeated over and over for the rest of my life."
Never-mind an inane, empty-headed comment posted to a BB on the WWW, eh.
"She wants to be a doctor one day, hopefully she will learn from this mistake and be a stronger person."
BWAHAAAAA!!
Sweet Jesus.
...hopefully?
I can’t speak about India, but Europeans certainly.
People who want to have a reason for their feelings of jealousy and resentment will focus on anything, and our use of the word “American” is one of these reasons, however illogical.
When my husband started his school years, the British Empire covered the globe and all of the countries in the Empire were colored pink. As the years went by, country after country gained independence and the British Empire shrank into insignificance. Meantime, we ‘yankees’ were seen as the reason why Europe was losing power in the world scene.
Americans (us) look at a weather map that generally does not even include Canada or Mexico. The rest of the world, however look at world maps where the United States is just a contiguous part of North America in the Western Hemisphere.
Never mind that their countries are smaller than ours, their feeling of entitlement as older ‘civilizations’ than ours is what they cling to - before and after their trips to Disney World or NYC!
Sorry guys, I dug it up years ago and sold it on ebay. I actually got more for the map than I did the treasure :(
I had fun in school because we did things and made things and nobody cared about our feelings, but they did care about our manners.
Exactly what I figured. Thanks for the info you provided.
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