Shocking Survey Shows Just How Ignorant Americans Are About Their Government – by Regan Pifer
What will end this great American Republic quicker than any Presidency, protest, Congress, or calamity?
The people themselves.
When Founding Father Benjamin Franklin left what is now Constitutional Hall in Philadelphia, a few women approached him on the street and eagerly asked him, “Mr. Franklin! Mr. Franklin! What did you decide? What was decided?”
Their question, of course, was directed to the activities inside Constitution Hall.
After scraping the Articles of Confederation and starting from scratch, the eager women wanted to know what in fact the Founders had decided.
What kind of government do we now have?
What will our day-to-day life look like now?
Franklin’s response?
“A Republic, madam…if you can keep it.”
What did Franklin mean?
Republics are tenuous and unstable creatures. Before the United States, no republic had lasted long. The idea that people could govern themselves was fairly new and unproven.
In order for a republic to survive, it was believed there must be an educated and virtuous citizenry. Based off of the latest studies, however, it looks like our educated citizenry is M.I.A.
According to Study Finds:
A sizable portion of the American public seems to show little interest in the fabric of the country’s government and history, a new survey finds.
Researchers at the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) surveyed over 1,000 American adults, finding a shocking lack of knowledge as it pertains to U.S. politics among the general populace.
Fifty-three percent of respondents believed the falsehood that illegal immigrants aren’t granted any constitutional rights, while 37 percent couldn’t even name a single right endowed by the First Amendment […]
[O]nly 26 percent of Americans could name all three branches of the federal government — that would be the executive, legislative, and judicial, for those playing at home.
While conservatives were more likely to be able to name all three branches than liberals or moderates, the overall proportion of the public that can name all three has fallen by 12 percent since 2011.
Perhaps most embarrassing: a full third of respondents couldn’t name a single federal branch of government, a figure that hasn’t shifted over the past half-decade.
This is sad and also terrifying.
How can anyone protect their constitutional rights if they don’t know what their constitutional rights are?
How can individuals hold their leaders accountable if they do not know what their positions entail?
If we want to keep this Republic, as Franklin warned, some massive work and education must occur. Civics programs must be brought back to schools. Those programs have been systematically eliminated from schools, something that the Left is rather proud of, especially one of John Podesta’s advisers as revealed by Wikileaks.
And as I’ve mentioned, we’ve all been quite content to demean government, drop civics and in general conspire to produce an unaware and compliant citizenry.
What a terrifying idea, and right there in writing!
This is not a right-leaning or left-leaning issue. It is an American issue =, an issue for our republic.
Anyone that tries to tell you different would rather have our country crumble than to secure the freedoms of his fellow Americans.
Contrary to popular belief, the United States Constitution is not daunting. It is readable. It is meant for you to read.
And for those of you who got the three branches of government wrong, I’d like to introduce you to a little something known as Schoolhouse Rock. You’re welcome.
Have you faced this sort of ignorance? Or are you intimidated by what seems like an overwhelming amount of information and don’t know where to start?
from The Federalist Papers http://bitly.com/2CcH1hP
via IFTTT How Democrats Exploit Low Information Voters BRILLIANTLY Illustrated http://bitly.com/2CcH1hP