this post was submitted on 11 Jul 2024

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139

Why are many people in America so politically unaware? (lemmy.world)

submitted 4 months ago by TokenBoomer@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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[–] IchNichtenLichten@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago

The media and social media are geared towards reinforcing tribalism. You have to pick a team and anyone on the other team is your enemy. It works well as a means of driving engagement and making money at the expense of having an electorate that is informed.

It reminds me of the town hall Bernie Sanders did on Fox News a few years ago. If you strip away the partisan blinkers and have a debate based on facts, specific policy points, and focusing on trying to improve people's lives instead of scoring cheap points then more people agree than disagree, regardless of political affiliation.

I guess the question is, "who benefits from a divided electorate?"

[–] Shady_Shiroe@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

It looked like a F##k fest so I decided imma go live in my tiny bubble of happiness.

Not like I need more drama and negativity because some old people who know nothing but to never answer your questions with a straightforward answer, tell me what I need to think or do.

I rather go download some ISOs and mess around on different linux distros.

[–] eldavi@lemmy.ml 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

american cultural social norms looks down upon talking about politics in public; which creates an entire country of people who lack practice in engaging in meaningful political discourse.

you combine that with american oligarchs using their influence to steer national discourse away from topics that threaten their interests while simultaneously manufacturing consent and you're left with recipe for red and blue magas.

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[–] cabron_offsets@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago

Because they don’t give a fuck.

[–] bloodfart@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 months ago

Most Americans are incredibly politically aware, but would not call their understanding political and don’t believe the government can resolve their problems.

They’re wrong about the former and right about the latter.

[–] Bytemeister@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Can you explain what you mean by "politically unaware"?

[–] TokenBoomer@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Knowing Less Than We Think

[–] Bytemeister@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Interesting article. I would agree that most Americans are politically unaware per that article, because most Americans aren't economists or historians. It was definitely an interesting read, but what I really noticed is that the article failed to compare American political unawareness to a global baseline, or at least provide some comparable country's numbers, like England, France, Russia, China, Australia, Mexico and Canada?

Makes me wonder if I could pass the US citizenship test...

Edit: 95% on a practice test...

https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship-resource-center/naturalization-test-and-study-resources/study-for-the-test/2008-civics-practice-test

[–] TokenBoomer@lemmy.world 0 points 3 months ago (2 children)

There are practice tests you can take . I bet you can pass it.

[–] Contravariant@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Why did the United States enter the Vietnam War?

Not the easiest kind of question to answer with multiple choice...

[–] TokenBoomer@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

Is it money, it’s always money 💰

[–] Bytemeister@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

That was my thought too.

[–] Bytemeister@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Passed that one. It was a little harder than the practice test, but I think it's about a middle-school level difficulty.

[–] TokenBoomer@lemmy.world 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Welcome to America! 🇺🇸

[–] Bytemeister@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Born here, stuck here.

Anyway, how well do you think American political awareness compares to political awareness of other countries? I honestly haven't looked yet.

[–] TokenBoomer@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Probably similar to other countries, but the stakes are so much higher because of the $2 billion military budget.

[–] SLVRDRGN@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

The clear evidence of human ignorance and irrationality in the political arena poses a serious challenge to the popular wisdom. Lacking awareness of basic facts of their political systems, to say nothing of the more sophisticated knowledge that would be needed to reliably resolve controversial political issues, most citizens can do no more than guess when they enter the voting booth. . . . [T]he attempt to influence public policy through such arbitrary guesses is unjust and socially irresponsible.

Dayum.

[–] TokenBoomer@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

This is one of those, “Tell us what you really think Michael” moments.

[–] therealjcdenton@lemmy.zip 0 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

America is the size of Europe, if you are English would you know what the current political discourse is in the Netherlands? Same kinda thing with something like North Carolina and Oregon very very far apart

[–] FunnyUsername@lemmy.world -1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Do you have stats do back that up, though? Like actual data that says people in other countries are less politically ignorant than americans?

[–] TokenBoomer@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Sure, hang on a second:

Actual stats

[–] FunnyUsername@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Brexit?

Your link just gives information about political awareness in America, there is nowhere anywhere that compares them to any other country like I asked for.

P.s. Trump lost the popular vote.

[–] TokenBoomer@lemmy.world 0 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

The question doesn’t compare Americans to other countries. I found some more interesting stats. That seems like a good question to post to /asklemmy.

[–] FunnyUsername@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

I definitely specified in my question for a comparison to other countries. You replied to my comment with an irrelevant link. And then now you've given me a second irrelevant link. If you can't answer my question, then stop trying.

Saying "americans are so politically unaware!" Implies Americans alone are unique in being politically unaware. I am looking for actual data that shows specifically americans are less politically aware than the citizens in other countries are about their own countries politics. Showing me information about how bad Americans are at civics tests is not needed here at all.

Do you have stats do back that up, though? Like actual data that says people in other countries are less politically ignorant than americans?

[–] TokenBoomer@lemmy.world 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Here’s the statistics you asked for.

[–] FunnyUsername@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

Lmao.

Thought so.

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