[Mike20432]

I am an American. I am proud of it, as I think anyone should be proud of his or her country. That does not mean I think the US is perfect, but rather that I am not ashamed of my heritage. I also have had the opportunity to live and travel across the world. I have spent months living throughout Latin America and years in Europe. The one thing that never ceases to amaze me is the completely ridiciuos assumptions made constantly about Americans whereever I go. HERE ARE THE TWO MOST COMMON ASSUMPTIONS: Assumption 1: Americans don’t know about any country other than there own. One of these responses even relayed a ‘survey’ in which he claimed that only 6-10 American 6th graders know where the US is on a map, and 0-10 can locate Canada. I have worked in schools in both South and North America and Europe, and I can tell you that Americans fared no worse than anyother nationality of a similar social class (and educational access) on geography! The implication that 0% of sixth grade Americans know where Canada is boggle my mind not because I think it is true but because someone actually believes it enough to post it!!! (That survey, I am willing to bet, comes from the same internet logic loophole that floods chatrooms with urgent announcements that that aliens have landed and have taken over Toronto… which is evidently the new capital of Turkey). Americans have some of the highest educational standards in the world, particularly in the humanities (including history). Political science, my current field, was overwhelmingly American in its early years. Are there so ignorant Americans? YES! Are there some educated and internationally aware Americans? YES! Are Americans on the average more ignorant than the rest of the world? NO! Less ignorant? NO! The same? So the real data (and not heresay and internet rumors) suggests!

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Name : Mike20432, City : New York, State : NY, Country : United States, 

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