Ohh boy... I've seen this kind of thing before - but it's always shocking anyway.
I know they must interview a whole bunch of people and only put the biggest idiots in - which you could do in any country, but still... idiots! haha
-UPDATE Below the fold-
Thanks entitlement for this funny video :) More evidence that people in the U.S. are stupid...
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Americans are soooooo stupid that they elected George W. Bush to be president - twice!
I'm sorry, was that a rhetorical question?
As with all things like this, you have to remember: editing, editing, editing. It's not that every person he spoke to didn't know anything. There were probably a whole lot of people who didn't make it on the video at all. Nor is it that each of those people were unable to answer ALL of his questions. Some of these people could have been reasonably competent for most of the questions, but had a brain fart for the one shown in the video. For example, on the "name a country starting with the letter 'U'" question, it's easy to forget about your home county (especially when it's usually referred to as 'America'). To be honest, the first country that popped into my head was "Uruguay", even though USA would have been a much more obvious choice.
Now, all of that being said...wow. It's still pretty freaking astonishing what people don't know. I really wish everyone were better educated. I feel like we'd elect better people to lead us if that were the case.
Actually "Ukraine" came to my mind first, 'cause the first place I saw country names I could recognize was on a RISK game board...only later did I learn that the Ukraine wasn't (at the time) an independent country, when I went to compare the board to a real map.
Even if someone says "united", "United Arab Emerates" comes to mind first. This is "America" (when talking internally) or "The States" (when talking to foreigners), and only "United States of America" when dealing with formality.
The Brits would recognize that, in that they are "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and (North) Ireland", whilst still calling it UK, United Kingdom, Britain, Great Britain, and England, depending on the mood.
I think that you could do this on most university campuses in the U.S. and it would still be like shooting fish in a barrel.
however, I like the distinction between ignorance and stupidity. The video showcases ignorance. Stupidity is more about low I.Q. and/or low intellectual curiosity/willful ignorance.
Joe Shelby: Careful there, there are political distinctions among UK, GB, and England itself. Some of those Brits will snark at you or worse if you confound them like that!
"Which ones is throwing the rocks?"
LMFAO
This series (Chaser's War on Everything, aka CNNNN) is a parody series in Australia. They do pretty much the same thing to Australians, including (and in particular) politicians they beard at the doors of Parliament and elsewhere. Before the pollies got the joke, there were some hilarious episodes.
But USAians do have the most restricted view of any nation, overall. When you account for 50% of the world's economy or whatever it is these days, I guess you can afford to.
I immediately thought of Uzbekhistan, but then thought "that's too weird" and revised it to Ukraine. I missed United States completely.
I thought of the Uganda, United Kingdom, Uraguay, United Arab Emirates, and Uzbekhistan, but United States of America never came to mind. I didn't think of Ukraine, either, 'cause I always forget that it's an independent country now. Probably doesn't help that I've been reading books about it written before it was independent.
The Australia as Korea bit had to be the funniest. I loved when the guy said, "Oh wow, I didn't realize North Korea was that much bigger than South Korea." Where the hell was he drawing the line?
Wait, why are they making fun of the guy who said Ugoslavia?
I'm glad it's been pointed out both that ignorance is what is displayed, not "stupidity", AND that you could do this in almost any country, edit for content, and find just as many stupid people.
However, I'm also not arguing with the results, as I need the reminder of just HOW ignorant Americans are--I know it--after all, they voted Emperor Dubya in twice--but when the next atrocious thing happens and my countryment let it happen, I need to keep reminding myself of their ignorance.;
We've been hearing about poll numbers on the war in Iraq and Dubya--they're down in the 20s and 30s respectively. I keep wondering, aghast, who represents those numbers, since that STILL means that a third of the country believes in him! Who ARE these people, and how ignorant ARE they? And will they wake up in time???