What we don’t know is hurting us

The Producer or Parasite? blog, website and all of its features are aimed at the general public - those who have only a mild interest in politics, society and where this country is headed. The goal is to get these Americans a bit more involved in the political process or to at least be aware of what’s going on. Although political wonks, junkies and insiders are more than welcome, there are plenty of other sources more focused on specific issues and more scholarly in their approach. Producer or Parasite? is not and will never be a think tank or conservative news outlet. That’s not the mission. Rather, this blog and website is here to ask questions that John Q. Public might have and then answer it in a way John Q. Public can grasp. It becomes a question of balance: where to set the bar so that every reader gets something out of the posts and weekly columns. What’s becoming obvious is the huge gap between the politically aware and the average American.

A recent study concluded that most Americans know little about the Constitution, that there are actually three branches of government, or that Presidents can’t declare wars or make treaties. And, too many Americans think the electoral college exists to prepare a citizen for public office. Further, most Americans cannot name the Speaker of the House, the Senate Majority Leader or the House Majority Leader, much less understand what they’re really up to. We’ve voted in a new President based on sound bites and saturation advertising. Europeans are laughing at us. Terrorists are sharpening their knives.

How did Americans become so utterly ignorant of their situation? Theories abound, but it’s probably just a result of the extraordinarily poor education received in public schools compounded by a media culture that doesn’t value academics or critical thinking in any form. Actually, it’s rather ironic: the failure of public education actually protects and enriches those most responsible for that failure. Ain’t America great?