12 Year Olds Know Government Better Than Adults

[davidswanson]

New Poll: 12 Year Olds Know Congress Could Cut War Money, Adults Believe Congress Powerless to End Iraq Occupation
By David Swanson

A pair of new polls may suggest the power of falsehoods repeated ad infinitum on our televisions and in our newspapers. The first poll asked 2,000 American 12 year olds whether Congress has the power to end the occupation of Iraq. Minorities believed Congress did not, or believed it could do so if the Democrats had larger majorities. But a 61 percent majority of those polled believed that Congress could simply stop funding the occupation, and that the Democrats in Congress had sufficient majorities to accomplish this without any Republican assistance.

Those 61 percent of 12 year olds were correct. Blocking funding in either the House or the Senate would be sufficient, because bills must pass both houses. Blocking funding in the House would require 50 percent plus one, and in the Senate would require 41 senators.

A second poll, this one of likely voters, all over the age of 18, found that only 32 percent believed that Congress has the power to end the occupation of Iraq. Meanwhile, 49 percent believed Congress would have that power if the Democrats held larger majorities. Richard Ovvio, Professor of Statistics at the University of Bugia, concluded that the primary reason for adults' failure to understand their government as well as sixth graders was adults' increased news media consumption. In fact, of those adults who gave the correct answer, 78 percent said they watched little or no television news, and 63 percent said they would consider it animal cruelty to line a bird cage with the Washington Post.

Furthermore, the fact that I completely made all of this up is more reflective of my failure to own a polling company than anything else.

[baldguy]

1. Adults know its not about the process of government, but who has the power & the will to change it.

[Tunkamerica]

2. I don't quite understand why you made that up

...the punchline wasn't quite worth the build up.

[Larry Ogg]

3. Honestly Mr. Swanson, I must give credit too your made up story,

Some will see it as a small lie, and some will see it as a true metaphor, well deserving of praise and compare.
Alas I took a pole of own and made two calls, one too heaven and one too hell and asked this simple question.
"Are people effected by lies?"

The first respondent replied thusly:
The man who never looks into a newspaper is better informed than he who reads them; in as much as he who knows nothing is nearer to the truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods and errors. It is a melancholy truth that a suppression of the press could not more completely deprive the nation of its benefits than is done by its abandoned prostitution to falsehood. T. Jefferson

Hmm, who would of ever thunk…


And second, as one mite guess:
The great mass of people . . . will more easily fall victim to a big lie than to a small one. What luck for rulers that men do not think. Adolf Hitler

Ha, I knew it all along.

And the point being is……… There Is a point too be made… And I thank you Mr. Swanson for yours...