When I posted this map – a screen grab from Fox News – a few days ago on Twitter, I had no idea it was going to go viral.
Just two days later, it has had over 170,000 views, my Twitter inbox has gone ballistic and I’ve been inundated with crazy, right-wing rhetoric from those in the US defending Fox and calling me a “liberal” (well,duh!) and suggesting that I had faked it -of course, Fox News can do no wrong in their eyes! But I’m afraid to say it’s genuine.
As for the suggestion of “liberal bias” – I would not hesitate to ridicule the BBC were they to make such an elementary mistake, too. In fact, the BBC should know a LOT better than Fox, so in a way the crime would be worse should they do it.
Many actually misread my post and thought I had said “most Americans can’t find their own country on a map” and insisted they could find it. Well, I actually said “a lot of Americans” – not “most” – and I stand by that characterisation. (Please, if you’re American and CAN find the US, good for you. But I don’t want an email about it. Just accept you’re cleverer than many in your country and feel happy!)
It seems that I have caused a bit of an international incident!
To the intelligent, thinking Americans: I unreservedly apologise. But I do feel sorry for you – after all, study after study does actually show that your fellow countrymen actually are NOT aware of the rest of the world, and your country’s place in it.
A study by National Geographic of young Americans found that half – that’s right – could not even find New York on a map. Other notable data reveals:
- 74% think English is spoken by the largest number of people in the world (it’s Mandarin)
- Only 37% of young Americans can find Iraq on a map—though U.S. troops have been there since 2003.
- 6 in 10 young Americans don’t speak a foreign language fluently.
- 20% of young Americans think Sudan is in Asia. (It’s the largest country in Africa.)
- 48% of young Americans believe the majority population in India is Muslim. (It’s Hindu—by a landslide.)
But it’s not just the youngsters who appear to be so unaware – the US government’s OWN statistics show that just 37% of the population as a whole currently hold a passport. (Add up the last ten years stats for “passports issued” HERE.). That means that just under two-thirds – a whopping majority – cannot even visit Canada (unless they have certain WHTI other documents instead: but a passport of required for air travel) and Mexico, two countries with a land border with the continental United States. This compares with around 80% of the UK population and similar rates in Europe. Sure, Europe is a smaller place and the countries close, so travel is easy, some say. The US is a huge country and it’s expensive to go elsewhere. Well, that doesn’t seem to bother Australians – probably one of the most isolated countries in the world – where close to 70% have passports. That’s almost twice as many as Americans.
But back to the Fox map – I copped a lot of criticism on Twitter by those defending Fox who said that this graphic was from 2009 and therefore had nothing to do with Egypt. Huh? Firstly, I never said the graphic was current – I merely posted it to demonstrate the ideas I’ve developed above, and I”m sure that the error went unnoticed by the vast majority of Fox viewers.
But irrespective of when the graphic was actually broadcast, no matter how the Fox apologists try to spin it – it doesn’t make it correct!
That bill was the Australian Constitution. 
If half of young Americans can’t even find New York, what hope for finding Egypt on a map?
31 01 2011When I posted this map – a screen grab from Fox News – a few days ago on Twitter, I had no idea it was going to go viral.
Just two days later, it has had over 170,000 views, my Twitter inbox has gone ballistic and I’ve been inundated with crazy, right-wing rhetoric from those in the US defending Fox and calling me a “liberal” (well,duh!) and suggesting that I had faked it -of course, Fox News can do no wrong in their eyes! But I’m afraid to say it’s genuine.
As for the suggestion of “liberal bias” – I would not hesitate to ridicule the BBC were they to make such an elementary mistake, too. In fact, the BBC should know a LOT better than Fox, so in a way the crime would be worse should they do it.
Many actually misread my post and thought I had said “most Americans can’t find their own country on a map” and insisted they could find it. Well, I actually said “a lot of Americans” – not “most” – and I stand by that characterisation. (Please, if you’re American and CAN find the US, good for you. But I don’t want an email about it. Just accept you’re cleverer than many in your country and feel happy!)
It seems that I have caused a bit of an international incident!
To the intelligent, thinking Americans: I unreservedly apologise. But I do feel sorry for you – after all, study after study does actually show that your fellow countrymen actually are NOT aware of the rest of the world, and your country’s place in it.
A study by National Geographic of young Americans found that half – that’s right – could not even find New York on a map. Other notable data reveals:
But it’s not just the youngsters who appear to be so unaware – the US government’s OWN statistics show that just 37% of the population as a whole currently hold a passport. (Add up the last ten years stats for “passports issued” HERE.). That means that just under two-thirds – a whopping majority – cannot even visit Canada (unless they have certain WHTI other documents instead: but a passport of required for air travel) and Mexico, two countries with a land border with the continental United States. This compares with around 80% of the UK population and similar rates in Europe. Sure, Europe is a smaller place and the countries close, so travel is easy, some say. The US is a huge country and it’s expensive to go elsewhere. Well, that doesn’t seem to bother Australians – probably one of the most isolated countries in the world – where close to 70% have passports. That’s almost twice as many as Americans.
But back to the Fox map – I copped a lot of criticism on Twitter by those defending Fox who said that this graphic was from 2009 and therefore had nothing to do with Egypt. Huh? Firstly, I never said the graphic was current – I merely posted it to demonstrate the ideas I’ve developed above, and I”m sure that the error went unnoticed by the vast majority of Fox viewers.
But irrespective of when the graphic was actually broadcast, no matter how the Fox apologists try to spin it – it doesn’t make it correct!
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