If our Democracy truly depends on an "informed and engaged citizenry," as the saying goes, then we are in deep, deep trouble. It turns out that:
Only one of the 1,000 adults polled in the telephone survey could name all five freedoms guaranteed under the First Amendment. Yet more than one in five (22 percent) could identify all five major characters in Matt Groening's cartoon family.Similarly, only 8 people in 100 could name at least three First Amendment freedoms. Four in 10 surveyed (40 percent) could name two of the three judges on the star-making show "American Idol," and one in four (25 percent) could name all three.
Amazingly, significant percentages thought the First Amendment - which guarantees freedom of speech, religion, the press, the right to peacefully assemble, and the right to petition the government for redress of grievances - actually guaranteed their right to raise pets and to drive a car! Wow, that's sad.
By the way, given how much TV Americans watch, I actually find it shocking that they know so little about The Simpsons and American Idol. I personally watch almost no TV at all, yet I am well aware that the TV Simpson family consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie. I have NEVER watched American Idol (ok, once for about 10 minutes until I couldn't stand it anymore), yet I know the names of two American Idol judges (Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul) simply through osmosis. In other words, if you're a sentient human being with a brain these days, you almost can't HELP but knowing the Simpson family members or American Idol judges. Yet only 22% could name all Simpsons and only 25% could name all three American Idol judges. Are people really as "Fat, Dumb and Ugly" as at least one author argues?
A good friend of mine likes to say, "Democracy dies when people turn on their TV sets," and I think he's on to something. Perhaps it's just that TV is a fundamentally flawed medium, as Neil Postman (author of "Amusing Ourselves to Death") and others have pointed out? Indeed, scientific research appears to show that heavy TV viewing by children increases passivity, attention deficit disorder, obesity, high-risk behaviors (alcohol, unsafe sex), gender and racial bias, and violent activity. Heavy TV viewing also has been shown to impair higher-order thinking and linguistic skills while increasing the risk of Alzheimer's disease.
It is also well known that TV offers a completely distorted view of the world, one in which "if it bleeds it leads." One in which the most important story of the day often happens to be about a missing young, attractive, preferably weatlhy white woman - while murders of poor minorities get almost no airplay. One in which there is nearly no world news, and what news IS shown has almost no depth, context, or perspective. One in which mindless consumption is promoted as the highest value and the path to happiness and popularity. Drink a Coke or eat a Big Mac and be popular! And one in which people care more about the five Simpsons (even if they can't remember all of them) than the first 10 Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
Oh, and is it any wonder that people who believe the world is all about sex, violence, and buying stuff would vote for the (supposed) "family values," "keep 'merica safe," and "it's your money" party? Hmmm.