How dumb is America?

Great question!

The answer, in my view, is, "that depends." As in, what do you mean by "dumb"?

In order to provide a direct answer to your question, I'm making the assumption that "dumb" is equated with "education." And, under that assumption, yes, we're a pretty dumb lot (and yes, I'm an American).

I believe a previous respondent already alluded to Detroit's 2007 high school graduation rate being about 24% ... that's a high school graduation rate!! If dumb is a function of education and 76% of the very people (high schoolers) that are suppose to be learning and preparing themselves to be productive, independent, and civic-minded members of the community are not graduating high school then there can't be much of an argument against saying, well, frankly, Detroit is dumb.

At the same time though, in my view, so are the political, educational, and business leaders of the city of Detroit and the state of Michigan. If they simply sit and accept a 24% HS graduation rate and are not tearing things apart ... tearing things down ... disrupting the status quo that has allowed and engendered this to occur, then those people -adults- are equally as dumb.

I believe the national report that earlier this month alerted the country to Detroit's unfathomable problem also indicated that, on average, across the nation, America's high schools are averaging just over 50% in graduation rates ... if that doesn't stop us in our tracks and command each of us to say "what the hell is going on here" then we -as a country- will certainly reap what we sow ... and deserve it too.

I believe there's about 155 million people in the present American workforce (out of a total 303 million Americans). Within the workforce, it's estimated that only about 28% have a Bachelor's degree; 17% have a Master's degree; less than 1% have a PhD; and about 2% have Professional degrees.

If there's someone out there who agrees with the basic assumption stated earlier that we're equating dumb with educational attainment, then, once again, it can't be argued that America is anything but dumb when considering these statistics.

Another respondent -I believe- mentioned that America is quite successful in technology, science, medicine, and the like. That is true. Two caveats though, i) those who actually succeed at those levels are such an incredibly small portion of the population, and ii) many of those so-called inventors, scientists, etc. are not American-born.

The point I'm trying to make with the previous paragraph is that -as has been the case for all our 232 years- America is not a nation of "we the people" but is clearly a nation of "a few select people."

And, in my view, those "few select people" have no desire, urge, or compelling interest to see most or all Americans educated; to see full employment; to see classism be narrowed; to bridge the ever-widening gap between the haves and have-nots; to ensure equal and fair access and opportunity ...

In short, the "few select people" see every reason ($$$$$$$) to ensure that, generally, the larger percentage of Americans are -and remain- truly dumb.

Most Americans simply don't understand how our world works! I mean to say their understanding of math and science is truly mind blowing. They don't understand how things around them work! That's dumb!

We're as dumb as our current President since the majority of Americans(not me though) voted for him....yeah good job America..........

Lmao.... The only thing dumb in America is our sorry a** President and the idiots who still believe in him.

i dont know any thing about statistics about silliness of America but i think most of people of the world believe in it.im sure you are the same.am i right?

The USA is leading in technology, science, medicine and other areas. It is helping the poor countries, and you think that is dumb? I would think it needs to balance and harmonize the internal needs of our country, infrastructure etc.

why dont you Google your question, USA may not be perfect...... God bless the USA Include the USA in your prayers..... and our money still says : IN GOD WE TRUST

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJuNgBkloFE

I'm sure they edited out all the correct answers.

My favorite was when they said "What language do people in Latin America speak" and they responded with "Latin"

I dont think they are dumb at all,

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