New Study, Same Conclusions
Of course by now most of you have heard of the study released last week that showed more people new the name of the lead characters on the Simpsons than new the freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment. I bow to James Taranto on the funniest line of the week regarding this.
"A recent survey shows that Americans can name more of the Simpsons than the rights protected by the First Amendment. (For the record, we can name all 12: Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie, O.J., religion, speech, press, assembly, petition and partial-birth abortion.)"
I’ve read several pundits’ take on this. Some are what you’d expect, railing at the political apathy of modern America, while some show indifference or a general lack of concern. The belief of the latter is that most Americans know their basic rights and surely exercise them any chance they get. Well, I might be able to accept that to some degree, but many Americans also think they have a right to health care, welfare, and cable TV. That’s why I still think it’s critical that the majority of Americans be aware of exactly which rights might be considered natural or even civil and which popular culture and sometimes leftist thought seem to want to bestow without any legal framework.
Even in my days in school, this would have been a no-brainer. Although my experience stems from a Catholic school and not a public one, my friends and colleagues from that era seemed to grasp the basics of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. They could reasonably name those rights and a majority of the Amendments without having to resort to an encyclopedia. Now, this is no longer the case.
Couple a general cultural perception of politics as boring and of no concern to the average American with a school system more interested in treating children like social experiments than individuals to be taught the basics needed to become a functioning citizen and you will get such results from a study like this each and every time.
Such ignorance makes it easy for the true demagogues of the media and political machine to argue for legislation and judicial diktat that appoint “laws and rights of the hour” and not reaffirm and strengthen our true rights. Just the opposite seems to happen, of course. Those rights we are naturally endowed with are seen as threatening and too vast an expanse of liberty and thus every attempt is made to infringe on them by those who feel they know how better to run your life than you do.
The best defense is to fight the tide and take a little interest in your government and your history. Instill that interest in your children at as young an age as possible. Let them know where they really come from. If one assumes that the current generation is bad, based on studies like this, how can you possibly think future ones are going to get any better without help?
Of course by now most of you have heard of the study released last week that showed more people new the name of the lead characters on the Simpsons than new the freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment. I bow to James Taranto on the funniest line of the week regarding this.
"A recent survey shows that Americans can name more of the Simpsons than the rights protected by the First Amendment. (For the record, we can name all 12: Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie, O.J., religion, speech, press, assembly, petition and partial-birth abortion.)"
I’ve read several pundits’ take on this. Some are what you’d expect, railing at the political apathy of modern America, while some show indifference or a general lack of concern. The belief of the latter is that most Americans know their basic rights and surely exercise them any chance they get. Well, I might be able to accept that to some degree, but many Americans also think they have a right to health care, welfare, and cable TV. That’s why I still think it’s critical that the majority of Americans be aware of exactly which rights might be considered natural or even civil and which popular culture and sometimes leftist thought seem to want to bestow without any legal framework.
Even in my days in school, this would have been a no-brainer. Although my experience stems from a Catholic school and not a public one, my friends and colleagues from that era seemed to grasp the basics of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. They could reasonably name those rights and a majority of the Amendments without having to resort to an encyclopedia. Now, this is no longer the case.
Couple a general cultural perception of politics as boring and of no concern to the average American with a school system more interested in treating children like social experiments than individuals to be taught the basics needed to become a functioning citizen and you will get such results from a study like this each and every time.
Such ignorance makes it easy for the true demagogues of the media and political machine to argue for legislation and judicial diktat that appoint “laws and rights of the hour” and not reaffirm and strengthen our true rights. Just the opposite seems to happen, of course. Those rights we are naturally endowed with are seen as threatening and too vast an expanse of liberty and thus every attempt is made to infringe on them by those who feel they know how better to run your life than you do.
The best defense is to fight the tide and take a little interest in your government and your history. Instill that interest in your children at as young an age as possible. Let them know where they really come from. If one assumes that the current generation is bad, based on studies like this, how can you possibly think future ones are going to get any better without help?
posted by Rob Beck | 6:20 AM
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