Thursday, April 11, 2013

Arizona Doesn't Share A Border With Mexico?

Learned about this through Aaron Clarey. This Milwaukee County Supervisor (elected three times) makes a statement that Arizona does not border Mexico. Fortunately, the board had adult supervision (that time).

This is going to sound heretical to those raised under a democracy-is-the-best-government-and-we-are-one brainwashing, but I do not believe EVERYONE should be permitted to vote. As to who should be restricted from voting, I don't have that entirely settled yet. I'll get to that on another post at an undetermined point in the future.

Remember that show "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader"? I never watched it. Not once. I might have accidentally walked into a room while it was on and caught a few seconds of it, but other than that, I never watched it. I figured it was incorrectly titled. It should have been "Have You Memorized The Amount of Trivial Facts A Fifth Grader Is Expected To Know?" While we equate the ability to memorize facts with intelligence, I don't believe it necessarily indicates intelligence. Most idiots can remember and parrot just about any line of propaganda. Hell, look at cable news.

As long as we have an electorate that doesn't expect a fifth grade level of knowledge and ability to synthesize facts into a coherent new thought, we're going to get politicians who don't even know basic geography, like which FOUR states border Mexico. Sure, which states border Canada is harder. I'd have to think about that, and would probably miss one, or confuse Vermont and New Hampshire. But FOUR states? At least she got Texas right.

On a lighter note, I was talking to a friend the other day. Despite the fact that he's an American citizen and a veteran, because he has a New Mexico driver's licence, most people assume he's not here legally, even though you don't get much more non-hispanic looking. Even buying beer, he occasionally gets asked for his green card.

So most people probably haven't memorized the amount of trivial facts a fifth grader should know. That's yet another reason my wife and I home-school our children.

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