After taking the time to read the Pew Research Center article “Public Knowledge of Current Affairs”, I became slightly agitated with the American public. Due to the United States government being a representative democracy, each citizen does not have hands on access or extensive influence over the government’s every decision. In order to insure protection from a corrupt government, citizens must stay informed. The Pew article explained that after a poll, almost one-third of the Americans polled could not even recall the name of the current vice president. This information should be second nature to Americans if they wish to forever preserve their freedoms and liberties.
While reading the article, I followed the link to the current Public Knowledge quiz. I scored higher than 89% percent of Americans by answering only nine questions of the eleven correct. The entire article and experience opened my eyes to the impulsiveness and the selfishness of the general American public. Most American citizens consider any knowledge that might not be completely beneficial at a given moment as unnecessary and not important. Americans, and especially young Americans, would rather turn the TV to an episode of The Jersey Shore or other nonsense instead of watching just three minutes of a would news report.
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