Wednesday, October 5, 2005

CNNN - On the Streets of America

CNNN host asks average Americans which countries United States should invade next in order to curb terrorism.

Many Americans can't even find these so-called "terrorist" states on the map, and they proved their own ignorance by placing markers on the continent of Australia.

video: http://tinyurl.com/qha8r

46 comments:

  1. On "The Tonight Jay Leno", Jay Leno went out and asked average Americans what was thrown into the water at the Boston Tea Party. One woman said "sugar". He asked another woman how many stars were on the US flag and she said "32". When he showed her an actual flag waving in the background and had her try again, she said the flag was moving to fast to count the stars.

    Those amazing examples of stupidity were one thing, but to see Americans pick out which countries we should invade and not even have valid reasoning as to why we should invade them is just pathetic. Invade France because they were not our allies? Are you kidding me? She didn't even know where it was! A shame because she actually came off as an intelligent black woman - at first. Italy? The guy might as well have used spinning globe and stopped it with a finger. Any country he landed on would be the next country to invaded.

    That clip makes me embarrassed to be an American.

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  2. Dear lord, I feel like a flappin' genius right now.

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  3. I'm sure you've seen that Map pf the World as seen by Americans? People think Japan is next to Texas.

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  4. There must have been someone who said that Australia was Australia and they didn't show it, I really hope that happened.

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  5. Like most tv shows, this was edited and only showed the totally clueless idiots. But regardless, the callous disregard and cavalier attitude to attacking other countries exhibited by these morons is worrying - and is something that I would never see so prominently in Australia, or in any other country I've lived in. The only saving grace was that blond chick with the bottle who knew where Sri Lanka was.

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  6. Yeah, but she still wanted to invade it.

    I'm disturbed by how when prodded for reasoning to support an invasion that would result in thousands of deaths, the answers were generally stupefied mumbles, and the most eloquent argument was the one guy who barely managed "uh...Nuclear?"

    I should've videotaped my college geography classes, only about a fifth of the room even knew all 50 states. For shame, America

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  7. So .... any other Australians here up for building a rocket and finding a new planet to inhabit ... ?


    Not only are we living in Australia, but also Iran, France and North Korea .... o.O

    The question is .... how well would the President go at that identifying the countries?

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  8. Whatever Bush says .. you must not
    misunderestimate him.

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  9. Living in Austria which often is mixed up with Australia my only hope is that the programmers of the guidance systems won't misspell.
    And don't let it be Italy - we well learned about the accuracy of those nav systems - and as you sure know, we share a border with Italy.
    My sympathies to the many US Americans I know personally who precisely can pinpoint any country on a map!

    On the other hand we have a (very nice and helpful) Au Pair from Jacksonville, FL with us right now.
    First she said, Florida would not have a capital at all, her second guess was Tampa :) But she is a peaceful gírl and wouldn't invade any country.

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  10. "We'll make a big glass crater out of the middle east for all I care!"
    LOL, I just spit my coffee everywhere.

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  11. Sad to say, this clip exhibits what I, and most likely my peers, think about Americans. The fact that there are people who can say these things and they are not transported on a short school bus with padded walls is scary. Now whether or not is was editted is irrelevant, these people exist, and doubtless are part of the voting majority. The most country with the most resources, but the least capability.

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  12. "Koola"
    "Cuba?"
    "..yea."

    OHHHhhhh the shame...

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  13. OH My God.. This canno't be true.. How Dumm can they get..Any of them didn't even know the World Map.. They were pointing at Australia, every time they pointed a country, just because on top of Australia read the name of a different country..

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  14. One type of control for the masses is to not educate the masses on the world outside their own world/country. Continually feeding mis-information, without the relevant base data to question the mis-information fed to them.

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  15. I think that Bush will invide the USA!!! Oh my God .It begins!!!

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  16. What cracks me up is how many dumbass"s over there (in the land of the "free")actually believe that Saddam was responsible for sept 11!
    All i have to say is,remember "comical Ali"?...........not so funny now huh?

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  17. America probably has as many dumbasses as any other "developed" country in the world by percentage%. The main difference is that the "intelligent, well educated" people congregate from richer areas for example the large cities (New York, Boston, Chicago, etc.)

    So to find the people that are dumber and less well off who obviously STAR in this clip you need to head to areas like New Orleans or Florida or the middle Idaho.

    It still doesn't change the fact that this is funny as buggery!!!

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  18. Would have been great if they put "Iraq" on the United States itself, and seen how many Americans would have been caught out. "Holy shiyit, I didn realize that Eye-rak was so goddamn big!"

    But i don't think even the most ignorant American would be THAT stupid!

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  19. all american are stupid.

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  20. Saying "All american are stupid", is, well, stupid. And yes, all the ppl in this video, are stupid. Like you, my anonymous friend.

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  21. Funny, yet distressing at the same time. Reminded me of the many similar bits performed by Rick Mercer in his Talking to Americans special.

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  22. Saying all Americans are stupid is as ignorant as the people in these videos. It's very easy to interview 1,000 people and find 10 who are really dumb. These types of people exist in your country too contrary to your belief that you are so much better and more intelligent than America. I met a woman in Ireland who told me she hated ME because of my president. I met a student from Scotland who seriously asked if I had "ever killed a man" because I live in New York. The people in these videos are sad, but I can assure you that between 99% and 100% of the people I know can pinpoint France on a map. I know it is trendy these days to poke fun at the country who saved the world from Nazism and was most responsible for rebuilding Europe's economy after WWII, but please get over yourselves (some of you) and realize that Americans are just as smart as you and that the people in these videos are not typical Americans.

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  23. Did anybody pin a terrorist flag on the state of Texas?

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  24. To the anonymous poster who made the claims about the USA saving the world from Nazism, I would rethink that attitude if I were you. I agree that stupidity is to be found in every country, but you went about making your point in the most offensive way possible.

    The USA has a reputation for obesity, stupidity and utter disrespect for other countries' polities. Whether this reputation is deserved or not I can't say. I don't live there and the Americans I know are fantastic people. BUT the fact is that the reputation does exist and if the US is going to mend the political mess that the Bush administration has made since 911, some serious changes need to be made.

    Europe was fighting a world war before the US joined in, and while they were pivotal in winning the war, to claim sole responsibility for the victory is both arrogant, and stupid.

    Plus, you automatically lose the point you were making - you brought the Nazis into an utterly unrelated discussion. Don't pull the WW2 card next time and you might retain some credibility.

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  25. these videos that show stupid people are funny, but you honestly don't know how many people they had to interview in order to get the really dumb ones. Don't hate on Americans because of the media. You wouldn't want Americans (or anybody outside your country) to hate on you because the media took your worst citizens and excentuated their faults.

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  26. Wow...those people are almost as stupid as the people who blow themselves up in front of a crowd of anoymous innocent bystanders.

    Or the guys who beheaded a group of young girls because they were Christian.

    It's one thing to talk stupid like these poor folks in the video, but rest assured, we aren't the only ones acting upon our dimensia.

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  27. lol, to the anonymous person above, Europe was fighting them, but they weren't exactly making decent progress.And anyway, can't say it was anyone who beat the nazis but the soviets. They got to the capitol first. And anyway, brits almost lost. Hitler had enough biological weapons to win the war, or atleast to f*** it up enough to screw things up for europe. but that's beside the point.
    I know people who believe that. People in my class believe that, with no true, valid reason as to why the United States should do anything to those other countries. All they do is choose it out of stereotype... for example, North Korea = Nuclear Bomb, Iran/Iraq = terrorists, India/China = Degrading useless countries..... all which of are complete and total b.s. It's really sad what a lot of people in the U.S. believe and the fact that many won't even spend the time to find something out about those countries.

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  28. I'm even more embarrassed to be an American.

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  29. to the anonymous user who said india and china were useless, i have several friends who are indian and it is definatelt a sophisticated and econmically growing country which is constantly being given a raw deal by the u.s (especially coca-cola) you can not say something like that about a country who invented the numeral 0 and the game of chess

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  30. omg. I mean no offense, but really, u Americans claim to be so good at things, but you point Iran at the continent of Australia. Simply brillant!

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  31. That was fantastic, Australia does appear to be screwed :P

    "French arnt our allies".. the french helped American wins its independence from the British by sending over one of their top generals and supplying weapons... oh dear.

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  32. Many stereotypes are actually believed by many Americans. Many Americans believe what the media shows them. For example when the show some under-developed countries or developing countries like India and China, people in the U.S start believing that camels and elephants walk on the streets of India. I'm From India and thats not True...Only at the tourist locations you will see wildlife...Now some cities like, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Banglore are soo developed(like the U.S) that the average American would be amazed. People in college and high school have asked me questions like "Are their cars yet in India?" or " Do women have to be completely clothed?" If someone really wanted to know the answers to these questions just go to google search and don't embarrass yourself. by the way, yes India has cars and Women, nowadays, wear the same clothing as here(Unless they are from the poor towns). Also some of the new generation start believing what shows such as the Simpsons and southpark show them. Basically, Americans Aren't really as ignorant as one would think. They believe what they see or hear. However none of them try to gain knowledge on their own.

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  33. It makes me so sad as a human to know that 'some' Americans are just too ignorant about the world outside theirs. How easy it is for them just to say stuffs without even thinking about how they are gonna affect other people. Also, how easy it was for them to send so many troops to invade another country at the cost of the live of thousands of human beings. I wonder if they will ever stop. God bless Americans!! You're gonna need it!

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  34. I will admit that there is a good number of Americans who should not be permitted to speak. However, it is not entirely their fault. I don't think many people from other countries realize the extent of the control that the media has over our lives.
    There are about 6 cable news channels on top of the 4 major networks and each station will show a different version of the story. It is very hard to get a non-partisan account of any event. A
    lso its sad to think that many people from other countries actually believe the stereotypes of America--just because 10 people enforced it them for you doesn't mean that all 300 million are that stupid.

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  35. Right, a handful of ignorant people should not determine an entire nation. Like someone said, this clip enforces a stereotype that is blown out of proportion around the globe. As a Californian, I admit too many Americans are ignorant, but you have to take into account what information we are fed and also what information we are told is necessary to be fed. Maybe we do not have the same self-motivation to research on our own because we are instead told to go about our own business, whether it be careers or high school busy work. Americans have it inside them to get riled up and do things; all it takes is for them to realize what exactly there is to get riled up about. Teach, and we will learn. And by teach, I also mean, somehow make it so Americans realize that their information sources are insufficient, and that they must seek information on their own time as well.

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  36. The problem is not how ignorant someone is, but the bad combination of being ignorant and being powerful. That is the worst combination. If you are powerful, as a nation, you should be responsible. Those people vote, so to same extent they fixate politics. They don’t even thing about the thousands of dead that the Us invitation of irak caused, or to any possible invasion ot an other country. O yes, invade noth corea because they have nukes… Just help me recall, who is the only country in the whole world who used nukes against civilian population? O yes, the US.
    Just invade the rest of the world and the wonder why the popularity of the us in the rest of the world drops... gosh, use your brains for a change

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  37. WWII still seems a big stereotype among Americans. Simple fact: 80% of nazis were fighting against Russians and only 20% British and Americans. Basically, Americans joined the war when it was almost over. You'll never here it on TV though. Probably, because the cold war is not over yet. At least for some people.

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  38. Isn't this stuff taught in schools?! What happened to schoolchildren being taught the basics of the world map? EVERYONE, regardless of their country of origin should learn the basics of world geography and history at a young age. Yet America always seems to focus more on itself than the bigger picture.

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  39. I was sad to be an American the day Bush was elected. I was ashamed to be an American the day he was reelected. To the people who think that this video represents a tiny selection of Americans, stop kidding yourselves. If it was easy to move to Europe and live, I would leave tomorrow.

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  40. all they teach in school is mostly US history. its like none of the other countries are good enought to learn about. If we dont learn about other countries then how would we know what has been going on in the world..

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  41. *sigh*

    I hate to say this, but the United States was no different to anywhere else in relation to the whole Germany situation in the second world war. They in fact had pro-"nazi" training camps in the US, and only joined in the second world war because someone dropped a couple of bombs on their fleet of warships.

    They were like everyone else. They didn't care less unless it was them, no better, no worse.

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  42. Is this real? There is another video of CNNNN interviewing random Americans (very funny by the way) but on both videos, the subtitles are very goofy. Almost fake.
    I hope for the United States that the movie is fake.

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  43. I have just seen the video, i live in Canada, this arrogance and stupidity displayed by these fine Americans is nothing new to us here... I would suspect that if the reporter placed Iran over Canada, they still would not know... I say we place Iran over the USA and then .....let the Nukes fly where they may. It won’t matter, with Bush in power we are all living in a very dangerous place.

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  44. I'm pretty sure the U.S. only got involved in the war in Europe because financial gain was seen in such a venture.

    That aside, it's inane to believe that all Americans (or folks of the United States, to be more specific) are idiots. Sure, a good lot of Americans believe everything the media says, but buying into the stupid American stereotype doesn't really help you out.

    It's also inane to believe that the President is a good representation of the people. Wasn't it Kerry who won the popular elections? Not that it matters: while folks in the U.S. can vote for state electors leaning in favour towards one candidate or the other, the electors don't necessarily have to vote for that candidate. Folks in the United States don't vote directly for their president: the electors do so.

    Now on the matter of the U.S. citizens who really are stupid: we are currently living in a culture where education is subordinate to religion, fame, and fortune. The Neo-Conservative movement isn't really helping matters, either. There's also a dilemma with the public schooling system, a matter not helped by the Bush-promoted No Child Left Behind Act. Essentially, there's a status quo, and teachers are basically moving the kids forward when they really need to go back and actually learn everything. There's also the problem of the education heads pocketing money that should go towards the schools. And, of course, the promotion of Christian ideas in the government and schooling system only hinders education's growth even further.

    I'll also add that public schools were originally started to educate the lower classes for the very basics in life, such as math and reading. The very first textbook for these schools, McGuffey's Reader, promoted the idea that poor people should stay in their caste and not strive for better ("a good boy does not look upon the rich boy on his horse with envy"). That way, the rich would stay rich and have the poor work the menial tasks.

    Modern society promotes entertainment and constant stimulation; therefore, "fun" things such as celebrity happenings are played in the news more often than "boring" stories like the current bills running through Congress and world events. Even stations that are all about the news had specials on Anna Nichole Smith and Lindsey Lohan.

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  45. I watched this clip. And I like many was blown away. I am an American man with a high school diploma. No college.
    I personally knew all questions asked by the reporter. Only one I struggled with was " the coalition of the willing" question. And who wouldnt? Most of the countries are 2nd world and were bullied into basically being our sponsers for for torture Facilities.

    Its my opinion that this news agancy only kept the most stupid answers that were given.
    Lets all jump on the hate america bandwagon. This is a bogus representaion of the average american

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