I AM... the average American idiot

We’ve all heard it: we Americans are closed-minded, sheltered snobs who cannot see past the tips of our noses and, indeed, don’t want to. We have only progressed from our age of isolation economically; mentally, we’re still snug in our own little bubble of perfection.

But I wonder if it’s true. This label has plagued the United States for centuries; have we not outgrown it yet? I remember learning in elementary school the importance of studying foreign cultures, and I remember lectures in high school about the conceit of the American people. If we as students are taught not to be the stereotypical American, how many of us have grown up to be the stereotypical American?

Perhaps I hang out with the wrong people, but from what I’ve seen, Americans are not as globally illiterate as the stereotype claims. Just recently, my quad had gathered to watch the first presidential debates and we ended up spending an hour discussing current events (everything from the elections to environmental issues, Russia and Georgia, North Korea, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Darfur); for those who were not fully educated on a subject, they listened with intense curiosity, asked questions, and offered their two cents when they could. Americans do pay attention to our government, we don’t carelessly claim perfection, and we don’t hold other countries in inevitable disdain.

Point blank, Americans are not politically stupid. Take, for instance, the primaries and caucuses of this past spring. First of all, let’s applaud the fact that we know what primaries and caucuses are; second, let’s remember in awe the record voter turnout. Granted, we won’t have as heated a race as this one every election, but the results prove that at least people are paying attention. Better yet, the voting record of young adults (ages 18-29) has been steadily rising too, and not just this past year. Young adult turnout jumped 11% in 2004 without the Obama-Clinton battle. I expect a similar jump again four years from now.

In regards to our self-infatuation, how many people don’t feel a special protection for their homeland? We understand that Americans are lucky: we don’t fear the government burning our neighborhoods or denying us voting rights, and our poverty comes from inefficiency instead of natural disasters. We also know, though, that compared to other developed countries, we have very little to brag about, especially now that our dollar is so weak. The stereotype alleges that if, for example, we believe that Americans can survive the credit crisis simply because we’ve survived worse before, then we are insufferably haughty. However, like any other nation, we are not demonstrating snobbism and blind self-confidence but rather love of country and pride in prior success.

Of course, we can (and have) taken this love and pride one step too far and treated other countries like barbarians, but this arrogance is not as common as rumors claim. I have yet to meet someone who does not want to travel abroad and experience other cultures, hates foreign food because it’s foreign, or flatly refuses to learn new languages. Concerning foreign languages, our problems do not stem from xenophobia but rather from education deficiencies in general. For example, the French memorize their grammar books religiously; in turn, their understanding of transitive verbs, subjunctive usage, relative pronouns, etc. facilitates their grasp of additional languages. Americans, however, can hardly speak English and cannot successfully tackle a second language without mastering the first. We aren't anti-foreign; we just have a few kinks in our educational system.

My point? I’m an American, and I’m not a genius. In fact, last year I took AP US Government and have probably retained as much information as I should have known when I was ten. At the same time, though, I follow political issues and I can’t wait to travel abroad.

I am the average American idiot. Am I an idiot?