Scientific Survey Finds Voters of All Parties, Ages, and Genders Are Broadly Misinformed – Just Facts
This very interesting article begins by contrasting James Madison's view of a well-learned voting populace with a recent quote from Michelle Obama.
Madison: "[voters] must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.” Failure to do this, he said, will produce government that is “a farce or a tragedy; or, perhaps both.”
M.Obama: “[all voters need is to] be a citizen,” “have opinions,” and want “a say in what happens.” She emphasized, “I’ve been voting since I was 18 years old—and trust me—I didn’t know nothing about nothing at 18 years old.”
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In total, the rates at which voters gave the correct answers varied from a high of 47% for Republican voters to a low of 34% for Democrat voters:
"Question 14: If the U.S. stopped recycling and buried all of its municipal trash for the next 100 years in a single landfill that was 30 feet high, how much of the nation’s land area would you think this landfill would cover? Less than 1%, 1% to less than 5%, or more than 5%?
Correct Answer: Less than 1%. At the current U.S. population growth rate and the current per-person trash production rate, the landfill would cover 0.06% of the nation’s land area. More realistically, the actual area in use will be an order of magnitude smaller, because:
Perhaps a quote from Winston Churchill is in order:"The best argument against democracy is a conversation with the average voter."
This very interesting article begins by contrasting James Madison's view of a well-learned voting populace with a recent quote from Michelle Obama.
Madison: "[voters] must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.” Failure to do this, he said, will produce government that is “a farce or a tragedy; or, perhaps both.”
M.Obama: “[all voters need is to] be a citizen,” “have opinions,” and want “a say in what happens.” She emphasized, “I’ve been voting since I was 18 years old—and trust me—I didn’t know nothing about nothing at 18 years old.”
"
In total, the rates at which voters gave the correct answers varied from a high of 47% for Republican voters to a low of 34% for Democrat voters:
- 47% for Republican voters
- 43% for males
- 42% for 35 to 64 year olds
- 41% for 18 to 34 year olds
- 38% for 65+ year olds
- 38% for third-party voters
- 37% for females
- 34% for Democrat voters"
"Question 14: If the U.S. stopped recycling and buried all of its municipal trash for the next 100 years in a single landfill that was 30 feet high, how much of the nation’s land area would you think this landfill would cover? Less than 1%, 1% to less than 5%, or more than 5%?
Correct Answer: Less than 1%. At the current U.S. population growth rate and the current per-person trash production rate, the landfill would cover 0.06% of the nation’s land area. More realistically, the actual area in use will be an order of magnitude smaller, because:
- the U.S. recycles, burns, or composts 48% of its trash.
- landfills can be more than 200 feet high.
- after 30 to 50 years, landfills are often covered and used for purposes such as parks, golf courses, ski slopes, and airfields.
Perhaps a quote from Winston Churchill is in order:"The best argument against democracy is a conversation with the average voter."
