A few too many Homers

March 1, 2006

I know most people don’t go around reading the Constitution all the time, but this is a little discouraging.

Americans apparently know more about “The Simpsons” than they do about the First Amendment.

Only one in four Americans can name more than one of the five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment. But more than half can name at least two members of the cartoon family, according to a survey.

The study by the new McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum found that 22 percent of Americans could name all five Simpson family members, compared with just one in 1,000 people who could name all five First Amendment freedoms.

It gets worse. More Americans could name the three “American Idol” judges than identify three First Amendment rights.

Worse still, people also misidentify rights that either don’t exist or appear in a different amendment. About one in five people thought the right to own a pet was protected.

Wow.

I wonder how many Americans think they have the right to party (or whether they still need to fight for it).

But at least The Simpsons is morally and intellectually uplifting. There’s no excuse for the American Idol craze.

  • And doesn’t “Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington” pretty much explain it all?

    I’m kidding, of course — to a point. There’s a great piece at TNR today on the demise of American higher education by William Stuntz. But of course the problem is more widespread than that.

    I should note, though, that I did grades 7-9 in Germany, which is generally considered to have a high-level educational system. I remember being one of the only people in my class of 30 who could name all the planets. And many of them — indeed, most of them — couldn’t locate Germany on a world map. (Until my teacher brought out the pre-1914 map to show us Germany’s boundaries — no joke.)

    Things are bad in the U.S., but they’re also bad up here in Canada. And I doubt that Europe is doing that much better.

  • In order to appreciate the Constitution you must be able to read.

    In order to enjoy the Simpsons you have to be able to click the “on” button and choose the channel.

    We’re a TV-addicted nation, and we’ve given away all the channels to large corporations with no restrictions other than seven no-no words.

    What’s the mystery?

  • Soooooo easy…. Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie….and Santa’s Little Helper of course.

    Huh? Oh…the Bill of Rights? also easy!!!!

    Speech, Pusue Happiness, own a gun, drive a car, move about the country, make babies…. sheesh!

  • And how many Americans would be able to answer the following question? In one of the Simpsons episodes one of the inhabitants of Springfield claims to be Dutch. Who is this inhabitant? If you know the answer, please visit http://www.opinieleiders.nl/techlog/pivot/entry.php?id=1644 . (It’s the same question, in Dutch. It’s been open for a couple of weeks now. It’s neither Sideshow Bob, nor Lenny Leonard.)

    Most of the Dutch can name none of the five freedoms. Many of them even doubt wether there are any freedoms in de U.S.A., which they see as a christianfundamentalist country. Sort of the christian equivalent of Iran or Saudi Arabia.

  • The only thing about the article that surprises me is that “Joe Madeira, director of exhibitions at the museum, said he was surprised by the results.”

    While the details in this particular article (Simpsons, pets) make it more entertaining than most, a number of articles over the years have noted this same distinction.

    Yeah, civics are hardly ever taught anymore, few people read much, it’s a lot easier and more fun to watch TV, etc. And these are valid concerns. But essentially the First Amendment and the Simpsons are apples and oranges. I suspect that if you talked about this in 1966 you’d have the same ratio of public knowledge re: First Amendment to names of Gilligan’s Island castaways. Same with 1944 and whatever people listened to on the radio back then.

  • I admit that off the top of my head I only know of freedom of expression, assembly, and religion, but sadly, I know of Simon and Paula Abdul as American Idol judges even though I have never, ever watched that show. I don’t even watch TV.

    I actually forgot about freedom of the press. D’oh! I know better than to forget that one. And petition the government – how does one petition the government nowadays anyway? States have initiative and referendum tools but federal government has nothing like that.

    And I agree that the Simpsons isn’t quite as terrible of a comparison to make as American Idol.

  • We are a TV addicted society, which is exactly why we need to up funding to public schools. Want americans to be smarter? Don’t cut support for public education and libraries. Support adult education centers. Support often educational public television. Parents, read to your children. Know what’s going on in they’re schools, what they’re studying, and what they’re interested in. Support and utilize musuems. Let’s really have no child left behind, not just the pretty rhetoric with no substance we’ve been getting.

  • Actually, I would have thought most could name at
    least freedom of religion and freedom of speech,
    but only 1 in 4 could name more than one. Past
    polls have shown that freedom of the press is
    neither known, nor agreed with. That’s really
    scary.

    As for the right to peaceably assemble and to petition for
    redress of grievances, it seems in times like
    these they’re considered to be treasonous acts,
    not Constitutional rights.

    I can’t believe that American Idol thing. But Homer,
    that’s another story. Good stuff, the Simpsons.

  • It really shouldn’t be a surprise at all — it explains a lot about why people don’t immediately see any problem with various First Amendment-related issues. I’d hate to tag an entire demographic, but one of the most disturbing incidents I’ve had recently involved a 25-year-old college graduate in journalism and a co-worker who asked in all seriousness which war was first — Korea or Vietnam?

  • And petition the government – how does one petition the government nowadays anyway?

    Ever heard of the K street project? Yep, that’s right, typically we petition the government via lobbyists. Which, FWIW, is one of the reasons that reforming the lobbyists so difficult

  • Cpt. Iglo –
    You asked: In one of the Simpsons episodes one of the inhabitants of Springfield claims to be Dutch. Who is this inhabitant?
    The answer to your Simpsons trivia is Moe Syslak.

  • Why does this surprise anyone? Surely you’ve seen Jay Leno’s “Jaywalking” shtick. It’s just as scary.

  • Well, with No Child Left Behind and standardized tests, our children will be far more knowlegable about our Constitution and our nation’s history.

    AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    Man, I gotta stop drinking at lunchtime.

  • About 20 years ago, a college educated, corporate climbing girlfriend of a friend of mine asked this question in response to my reference to the 1st Amendment

    “First Amendment? Which one is that?”

    Don’t blame the Simpsons.

  • Who needs this here bill of rights anyway.?
    I ain’t doin nuttin wrong , so I what do I gots to hide.
    Hey, Osama might be on the udder end of the line
    and that’s why defendin our freedom means
    we don’t need any.

  • The right to own pets may not be enshrined in the Bill of Rights, but at least I have the right to own bear arms.

  • I hate to say it, but this is non-news. Back in the late Jurassic, when I was in junior high and high school, most of my fellow students slept through “How A Bill Becomes A Law” and the other issues in the “government” class – I think I was one of 2 or 3 who were taking these classes by choice.

    American public education has never been about creating an informed citizenry – if it was, I would never have been constantly dinged with “improvement needed” in my report cards for failing “works and plays well with others.” They want a work force that follows orders and can read the instruction manuals. An awareness of First Amendment Rights and all the rest leads to people who want to form unions and hold politicians accountable – why would they ever want to promote those heresies?

    I apologize for being cynical whenever someone brings up “good government” issues, but after 40 years in politics all I’ve ever seen from “good government” issues is another way to hoodwink the public that something is being done, in the meantime removing another bit of education for people to take control themselves rather than leave it in the hands of “experts.” (As my father – who really was an “expert” in his chosen field – used to say, the definition of that word is “a drip under pressure.”)

    As to “nobody reads,”I believe the first “Why Johnny Can’t Read” book and campaign came out while I was still in elementary school, just after the meteor killed the dinosaurs (when they were just starting to teach that godawful “word recognition” method, which I fortunately missed as a member of the last class to be taught phonics).

  • I think these kinds of polls are unfair. Americans can name five Simpsons because they see all five characters on TV every week, in memorably repetitive contexts. You could probably replace “Simpsons” with “grade school teachers”, “transmission gears”, or “McDonalds Dollar Menu items” and get a similar result. How often do all five First Amendment rights appear in any context except a pop quiz?

  • I was a little embarassed to realize I couldn’t get all of them either. And I know a lot of Simpsons trivia (and other knowledge of questionable value)

  • The First Amendment Center has been conducting this kind of survey since 1997. Look at their 2002 report and you will find these figures showing the percentage of respondents who could name each of the rights enumerated in the First Amendment:

    58% — freedom of speech
    18% — freedom of religion
    14% — freedom of the press
    10% — freedom of assembly/association
    2% — freedom of petition

    These are miserably low figures. But the scary part is that fully 41% of respondents said the First Amendment “goes too far” in the rights it guarantees! — even though most of them don’t have a clue as to what those rights are. This survey was done not long after the 9/11 attacks, and it shows.

    There is no better reminder of how fragile freedom is in the face of fear.

  • Let’s tell Bush that Al Jazeera has taken over the studio where American Idol is shot. He would just as soon give the coordinates to an artillery unit anyway when it comes to any media that doesn’t “minimize” his damage to the world. If Fux is the one that carries American Idol, let’s tell Shrub that Iran and Al Queda have taken over it. The Bush Admin is definitely circling the drain. I agree with the others that think Bush is trying to catch Bin Laden in order to save his poll numbers. Fat chance. As for the Constitution, Bush said, “It’s just a goddamn piece of paper.” It interferes with maximizing profits for his base and uniting every arab and muslim in the world against the US.

  • Aw, these polls are sexist. Or, at least, they favor the kind of people who can memorize something once and then quote it, randomly, for the rest of their lives. I knew a guy in grad school who would quote Shakespeare. The fact that I have been in a couple amateur productions of Shakespeare, however, has not left me with a single line of dialogue that I can bring to the fore of my brain and now quote.

    Likewise, the fact that I have read the Constitution many times — my Ph.D. is in American politics, and I’ve taught constitutional law classes — does not leave me in a position, about 10 years from the last time I taught it, to dredge up which rights go with which amendments.

    I have never been able to really learn a second language, either.

    Sigh.

  • Why shouldn’t people know more about the Simpsons than the constitution? After all, Bush hasn’t cancelled the Simpsons yet.

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