SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation reports:
Just a third of Americans can pass a multiple choice "U.S. Citizenship Test", fumbling over such simple questions as the cause of the cold war or naming just one thing Benjamin Franklin is famous for.
And of Americans 45 and younger, the passing rate is a tiny 19 percent, according to a survey done for the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation.
Worse: The actual test only requires that 60 percent of the answers be correct. In the survey, just 36 percent passed.
Among the embarrassing errors uncovered in the survey of questions taken from the U.S. Citizenship Test and conducted by Lincoln Park Stragtegies:
- 72 percent of respondents either incorrectly identified or were unsure of which states were part of the 13 original states.
- 24 percent could correctly identify one thing Benjamin Franklin was famous for, with 37 percent believing he invented the lightbulb.
- 12 percent incorrectly thought WWII General Dwight Eisenhower led troops in the Civil War.
- 2 percent said the Cold War was caused by climate change.
Also at Sputnik and The Tri-City Herald
This discussion has been archived.
No new comments can be posted.
1-in-3 Pass `US Citizenship Test,' Just 19% for Americans 45 and Younger
|
Log In/Create an Account
| Top
| 112 comments
| Search Discussion
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
Croll's Query:
If tin whistles are made of tin, what are foghorns made of?
(Score: 2) by jmorris on Friday October 05 2018, @05:01PM (1 child)
As a general rule, the tie in books by TV / radio hosts aren't the best stuff. There are exceptions.
With Coulter, look at the book. If it is basically a collection of columns well you know what you are getting. Just a notch above an Internet troll. Demonic was well researched and just the chapter with the unwhitewashed history of the French revolution is worth the cover price for eye opening power. She was on fire but in a good way. Lots of footnotes to give you leads to more reading material
I haven't read all of her defense of Joe McCarthy (Treason) but while it seems thorough and a good introduction to the idea of rethinking that era's history, gotta recommend Stanton Evan's Blacklisted by History as the definitive work on the topic if you can handle a more scholarly work. With his access to the opened Senate archives and the brief window the end of the Cold War gave him into Soviet records it leaves no doubt that the Senator's sin was failing to comprehend just how much deeper the problem was than an infestation of Communists at the State Dept.
Beck is all over the map. Cutsie Christmas books and other Christian oriented stuff that you can give a pass on, novels, so don't make the mistake of just grabbing the first thing with his name on it. Arguing With Idiots is a good place to start, written while his staff was probably at max, with the radio show and the FNC show bringing in sacks of cash to pay for a crack team. If you aren't already "on the Right side" of the political divide it will prove eye opening that yes we really do have facts on our side; Lots of them. The translated Federalist Papers published under his imprint is a modern marvel. He put out a call on his show one day saying The Federalist was wonderful but modern people found it hard to read because of the drift in English since it was written, and said it would be great if somebody could do a translation. A college student did, submitted it and he published it. Comparing it to the original is fascinating. Search for The Original Argument.
If you want to "read our books" like I'm reading Marx, Alinsky, etc. You want to get away from the currently topical works and the rest of the "stars" and go for core foundational works. Kirk's The Conservative Mind is recommended by everyone on the Right from the cucks at National Review to the hard right; paradoxically this book is where I finally exited Conservatism. It explained it so completely it erased all doubt that I was one. And speaking of NR, while I have problems with them lately, Jonah Goldberg did do some great work in his, to date, magnum opus, Liberal Fascism. That one is still discussed which means it had a real impact. You can't go wrong reading just about any of Bill Buckley's prodigious output either.
Read some of Thomas Sowell's stuff. If you can still get Vision of the Anointed read it, otherwise get the newer aimed at an intro audience Quest for Cosmic Justice So far I haven't went wrong with anything with his name on it though so just grab whatever you can find at your local library.
To understand the Libertarians you of course start with Ayn Rand's Anthem, Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. Roll your eyes at the crazy bits and try to understand the rest of the ideas. But eventually you want some meat on those bones and that will lead you to The Mises Institute [mises.org] where you could spend the rest of several lifetimes happily reading interesting stuff. Libertarians write stuff. you should probably only attempt Human Action after some prep, it is difficult and thick but oh Hell yes! Economics is a solved problem after you read that one. A political system that could permit it is the question. And that was where I exited Libertarianism because it doesn't have an answer to that.
To follow Moldbug's recommendation to read old books, why not start with a nice short piece from one of his favorite authors that has instant impact on our modern times. Read Carlyle's Chartism Google Books has it for free. Might also be in one of the collections of Carlyle at Gutenberg.
(Score: 1) by aebonyne on Friday October 05 2018, @07:57PM
Thank you very much for taking to time to write an in-depth reply. I will definitely follow-up on your recommendations.
Centralization breaks the internet.