With Thomas Jefferson's remark that democracy depends on an informed electorate in mind, when I encounter the appalling level of ignorance there is out there, I—
Well, let's put it this way: I had some pretty good history and civics teachers in high school (graduated in 1949). Not only did they impart the information, they made it interesting, and most of the kids paid attention. Then, when I was in college, I read the results of a survey the campus newspaper did. They gave a questionnaire to several hundred students (that's college students). Among other things, less than half could name the state's two senators, even less than that knew who their congressional representative was, about seventy-five percent couldn't name the Secretary of State, and around four percent couldn't name the President!
Senator McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee were riding high about that time, and the students in the survey were asked to read a copy of the Bill of Rights without being told what it was. Then they were asked if they'd be willing to sign it. Over half said "No."
The survey also asked if they could name the Canadian provinces. Less than a quarter could. In the meantime, my eleven-year-old niece, who had been educated in Canadian schools, could name all the provinces, of course, and could go on to name all 48 of the United States (this was before Alaska and Hawaii became states), and most of their capitals.
I was always under the impression that education in Great Britain was the best in the world. What's happening?
. . . next, someone's going to try to tell me that Blackadder wasn't a real historical person. . . .