Editor's note: This post is a satire.
Washington, D.C. -- According to a Gallup/Harris poll released Monday, a full 37 percent of American citizens are incapable of identifying their home country on a map of the United States.
Of the 1,400 residents surveyed, the most common incorrect responses placed the more than 230-year-old territory in the Atlantic or Pacific Oceans (19 percent), the space where Mexico would appear were it in fact included on the map (10 percent), and inside the word "America" written just above the northernmost states (6 percent).
"On the whole, these figures should be construed as somewhat disappointing," Gallup spokesman Keith Ventner said. "Especially the two percent that believed the United States was located on the map's color-coded inset legend. I think we as a nation likely could have done without seeing that."
When asked to reveal the identity of the giant America-shaped landmass found on the map, several of those polled were decidedly varied in their answers.
"That thing definitely looked familiar," said autoworker and father of three Ed McConnell. "And my gut told me there were probably a whole bunch of Americans there. So I had to go with 'Iraq.'"
Other guesses as to the nature of the mystery country included "Hollywood," "Palestine," "The Shire," and "Club Med Punta Cana."
The map used in the poll, with erroneous America locations in red
Stuart Weiss, senior sociology professor at Boston College, said although these findings may be surprising to some, they're by no means atypical.
"The sentiment of many Americans is that there's little intrinsic value in studying a map of a place you're already at," noted Weiss. "It'd be like driving to Graceland and then asking for directions once you've arrived. Not much point."
Shirley Matheson, a part-time Arby's employee residing in Dayton, Ohio, agreed with Weiss's assessment. "I live in the U.S.A., so why would I need to know where America is? Or the United States for that matter?"
Added Matheson: "As long as there's still room on that map for all three of those countries, I'm sure everyone will keep getting along just fine."
Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security sees the Gallup/Harris poll results as a blessing in disguise. According to Secretary Michael Chertoff, the nation would be better off if these numbers skewed even higher.
"Personally, I believe if fewer people in this world could spot America on a map, we'd have a much better chance of avoiding national tragedies like 9/11," said Chertoff. "You can't attack a country you can't find."
Of the respondents actually capable of pinpointing America on the map of America, their accuracy decreased considerably with each additional query about the country. Asked for the name of the U.S. capital, those polled placed Washington, D.C., fifth behind "Minneapolis-St. Paul," "Mount Rushmore," "America City," and "Whitewater."
Despite Americans' seemingly underdeveloped sense of their own geography, history and domestic policy, they did score high points on the issue of patriotism, calling America "the greatest country in the world" (47 percent), "the best state of all the Unites States" (31 percent), and "a place to definitely explore when I finally get my passport" (22 percent).
Steven Shehori is an award-winning comedy writer. And Canadian. He claims he can find America on a map.
Follow Steven Shehori on Twitter: www.twitter.com/stevenshehori
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How does one identify their home country on a map of the United States? Wouldn't they already be looking at a map of the United States?
I guess those making all the comments of the stupidity of others didn't notice the first line of the article nor did they see the editors note that the article is satire.
Jefferson was right. Voting should not be a universal right.
The powers that be have a vested interest in keeping the average American uneducated and uninformed
More and more, I'm coming to believe that if we need to take basic competancy exams before being allowed to drive a car or being accepted to a college, we should be required to do so before being allowed to VOTE for our leaders.
Otherwise we end up with...wel
THIS ISN'T A REAL POLL.
New poll just in:
"75% of readers actually read the WHOLE article and STILL think it's real."
MUCH worse than the fake poll in this article.
Gallup/Har
When even the poll takers and the columnists who base their wit and critiques on such polls don't know where "America" or the "United States of America" really is, we are truly in trouble.
Yes, she'll be working at Arby's for the rest of her life.