What a dissaster

[Daniel Prates]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

Is the random Brazilian better informed? Does anybody even ask the average Brazilian these kinds of questions? Does anybody even care?

It's easy to pick a target and make fun of them, and in this case it's true - the average American is woefully undereducated about the rest of the world. But videos show that so is the average Briton. I've never seen a video asking the average Frenchman these questions. Perhaps their afraid of what they'll find. Or perhaps they exist, but don't get shown where I live.

So I agree, you're right about our education, but you're wrong to make fun of it or single us out unless you have videos showing the average Brazilian is that much better.

Ooops. I seem to have acidentaly steped on a landmine.

No Steve, the average brazilian sure isn't any better, possibly otherwise. But then again, that never was my point. Neither was making fun of anyone.

[Dread Knot]

What I found more distrubing than ignorance of the date, was the belief among some of our denser US citizens that the Sendai tsunami and Fukushima earlier this year was some sort of divine payback for Pearl Harbor. I think Midway, Guadalcanal, The Marianas, Leyte Gulf and Japan's economic collapse, firebombing and A-bombing, etc. were payback for Pearl Harbor with plenty of interest. It's like these idiots think Japan somehow got off a sucker punch clean.

And what's the point of divine payback 70 years later?

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Daniel Prates

No Steve, the average brazilian sure isn't any better, possibly otherwise. But then again, that never was my point. Neither was making fun of anyone.

Sorry I misunderstood. Sometimes it's just the translation.

[Daniel Prates]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

Sorry I misunderstood. Sometimes it's just the translation.

Cool SS! Yep, and just to be sure I am not being misunderstood, I quoted that quiz only to point out a stupid remark and perhaps find some cheap laughs on it, and not to say that americans have exclusive ownership on stupidity, or that I quoted a tipical american response.

Actually, I am going to quote some of the most famous idiotic sentences of our former president, much apraised in the international press but regarded as an idiot by his own countrymen:

"I am the son of a woman who was born an analphabet"

"When Napoleon went to china..." (starting a well-propagated speech)

"I'm surprised to arrive in Windhoeck (namibian capital) to find out that it doesn't even feel like an african country"

"Poor is the country that nees martyrs to defend freedom and dead people to defend life"

"For many years, Brazil couldn't even speak to Lybia on account of the americans hating the Lebanese"

"I just went to Gabon (a military dictatorship) to find out how a president can stay in power for 37 years and still apply for reelections"

"All brazilians have reasons to feel optimistic. Perspectives are only bad for the unemployed"

"We are here in this event with some fellows that have phisical disabilities. I can see here M. Arnaldo Godoy, trying to look at me, but he cant because he is blind. Hey Arnaldo I'm here to your left! There, now you're looking at me" (during a conference).

[Elektroniikka-Asentaja]

Dread Knot made the point. I'm Finnish, happy about that and so on (insert the usual patriotic propaganda here) but I hated to see it as well when in some live news some man said that he is happy about the tsunami as the Japanese were finally punished for Pearl Harbor. I was like "FFS guys, you dropped 2 nukes there and think thatit wasn't enough??"

However, as much as I'd like to do it, I don't want to talk bad about Americans because if you have almost 400 000 000 people you can ALWAYS find some over patriotic idiots. You can find them in Finland too just as well as in everywhere else.

- Johnny

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Elektroniikka-Asentaja

Dread Knot made the point. I'm Finnish, happy about that and so on (insert the usual patriotic propaganda here) but I hated to see it as well when in some live news some man said that he is happy about the tsunami as the Japanese were finally punished for Pearl Harbor. I was like "FFS guys, you dropped 2 nukes there and think thatit wasn't enough??"

I completely agree. People who say things like that are clueless. They were punished plenty, and when the war was over we did everything we could to make it up to them, just as we did in Germany.

The world has plenty of idiots to go around.

[Platapus]

One thing to keep in mind is that the attack on the US is almost 70 years ago. That qualifies as ancient history to most non-history nuts.

It is like asking people in 1984 about the First World War.

It is probably an anathema to members of this board, but most people really are not interested in history.

Does that really make them uneducated? Not really. It makes them uneducated in the subject of military history.

One could make the argument that "everyone" needs to know about 7 Dec 41, but really it was almost 70 years ago. Yeah, it was a pretty big event..... 70 years ago. A lot has changed since then. We are friends with all of our enemies of WWII. There is a lot of history only 70 years ago that most people don't care about.

It is important to us because most of us here on this forum have interests in history and we play WWII themed video games. Most of the citizens ain't.

We will have to face the fact that soon, WWII will have the same historical interest as WWI for the majority of citizens - There will always be some who are interested in it but most will dimly recognize something about it.

I am less concerned with today's citizens not knowing about an attack 70 years ago but am more concerned with today's citizen not knowing a lot about how today's government works.