From Canada: 'The problem with too much democracy' in the U.S.

[Newsjock]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/01/06/f-rfa-macdonald-democracy.html

... "For your information, sir," one elderly woman told me at a rally once in Richmond, Va., "Social Security is not a government program."

I smiled back politely, as reporters are supposed to do, wondering how any serious person in a position of leadership is supposed to deal with that sort of aggressive stupidity.

That's an extreme example, granted, but the electorate here is shot through with muddied versions of reality.

Moreoever, this is America, where individualism is prized for its own sake. So, people don't just act on uninformed positions, they proudly shout them from their bedroom windows.

[Warpy]

1. That's the problem with journalists, they don't correct these fools.

If they stopped letting human garbage get away with lies, they'd lose access to liars and that would be a very good thing.

[riverbendviewgal]

2. I find that Canadians are on the whole

much more informed than Americans.

I see this when I visit the USA on my vacation trips. Americans don't know their history or geography....so sad.

[RC]

3. Even worse, we still consider ourselves the Greatest Nation on Earth.

Even though most of us have not been out of the country to really know.

[MADem]

4. I am careful not to paint with a broad brush.

I've met some pretty thick Canadians, but I wouldn't base my opinion of the entire population on them.

I know there are stupid people here in the states as well, but I tend to not associate myself with them.

[LiberalLovinLug]

5. As a fellow Canadian I politely disagree

There are a lot of stupid Canadians, a lot of Harperites willing to catapult every traditional principle Canadians used to stand for. Peace keeping instead of military intervention, public service over private profit etc..
And I think Americans know a great deal about their own country. Perhaps awareness outside their borders, looking at the planet as a whole, does elude their education and media/information channels.