Americans Have Been Deliberately Made Ignorant of Their Own Government

by

       M. Richard Maxson

      We live in an age where lack of civic knowledge, how and why our government works, is a major issue and a large part of the reason this country is being torn apart. When I was a child, we would learn the basics about civics in elementary and high school, then move on in college to learn deeper about the theories and philosophy of government. Civics education today has virtually disappeared from many of our schools and universities. In a 2018 ACTA survey, researchers found only “17% of schools require a course in U.S. government and history, and 3% require a basic course in economics.” Civics classes were removed for the more important ones such as, social justice, ethnic histories, global warming, etc. The result has been that the typical voter, both with college degrees and those without, cannot answer simple questions, not only on high-profile public policy issues but also about the basic fundamental structure of government. The survey found that:

• 2 in 5 American adults (39%) can correctly name the three branches of government (legislative, executive, and judicial)

• 46% of college graduates do not know the election cycle for the U.S. Congress (six years for senators, two years for representatives).

• 15 percent identified correctly that James Madison is the “Father of the Constitution.”

• Only 12 percent knew the 13th Amendment freed the slaves.

• 38 percent knew that the Constitution, along with federal laws and treaties, was the ultimate law in the U.S.

• Half of Americans think the following phrase, “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs,” appears in the US Constitution. If you have not already guessed, this statement is from The Communist Manifesto, by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.

      The Leftist elite that run our schools made sure that

citizens would no longer be educated in how their government works. It makes it easier for government change when it’s citizens don’t understand the basic principals of their nation. When citizens are not knowledgeable of basic civics, and take their lack of civic knowledge into the voting booth and cast their ballot, it creates problems. When we as citizens vote, we are electing candidates to occupy positions of power. These individuals don’t just rule over those who voted for them but also rule over those who didn’t. However, when we exercise power over others voters have a civic duty to be at least reasonably informed about civics.

      The simple fact is the American people are woefully ill-informed to vote. Citizens go out and vote, volunteer, and organize around issues of interest but to do those effectively and to do them well requires civics knowledge, which most don’t have. Without such an education how can we expect citizens to understand what a politician is proposing in their public policies and to be adequately informed to cast a vote? Citizens who lack civics knowledge can be easily manipulated by “propaganda and the seductions of flattering and over-promising politicians”.

      An informed citizenry would reverse the current wave of dis-information. It took decades to un-educate the masses and it would take decades to reverse the trend. Only when our citizens are once again knowledgeable of basic civics, will they be empowered to overcome and resist the self-serving, ambitious political elites and groups and can act in their own self-interest. Only then can they preserve our country’s freedom and constitutional rights, and produce effective governance.

      The problem isn’t that voters are stupid or information is not available, they are simply not using their intelligence to learn the information out there, accepting what they are being told, and not doing their research to find truth. Until citizens are knowledgeable enough to responsibly vote and evaluate candidates’ positions in an unbiased, informed, and objective way, citizens will continue to fall prey to tribalism, bad policy decisions, and manipulation by power-hungry politicians, activists, and anti-constitutional special interests groups.