Civics Literacy Test

Smackie Chan · Post by **Smackie Chan** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 6:46 pm

At the risk of a glass dick, are you more knowledgeable than the average citizen? The reported average score for all 2,508 Americans taking the test was 49%; college educators allegedly scored 55%. I scored 30/33 (90.91%), and have a friend who missed only one. I'm sure everyone here will ace it since you're all smart & stuff.
http://www.isi.org/quiz.aspx?q=FE5C3B47 ... 2BB31E2692

MgoBlue-LightSpecial · Mon Jul 18, 2011 6:48 pm

34/33

-Dinsdale

Screw_Michigan · Post by **Screw_Michigan** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 6:53 pm

You answered 29 out of 33 correctly — 87.88 %

Now fuck off.

Cuda · Post by **Cuda** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 7:06 pm

31/33

the "wrong" answers were clearly questions on opinion, not fact.

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 7:06 pm

30/33

Tom In VA · Post by **Tom In VA** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 7:11 pm

You answered 30 out of 33 correctly — 90.91 %

Terry in Crapchester · Mon Jul 18, 2011 7:26 pm

31/33.

indyfrisco · Post by **indyfrisco** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 7:34 pm

26/33

Hey, at least I'm honest even if I don't give a shit about useless trivia.

Truman · Post by **Truman** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 8:15 pm

You answered 32 out of 33 correctly — 96.97 %

Killian · Post by **Killian** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 9:26 pm

Screw_Michigan wrote:
You answered 29 out of 33 correctly — 87.88 %
Now fuck off.

Cockbag.

28/33

Y2K · Post by **Y2K** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 11:31 pm

29/33

smackaholic · Post by **smackaholic** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 11:37 pm

33 for 33 bitches!!!!!!!!!!!

it actually said i was 32 of 33, but i know for certain i picked the right answer on that one but this POS netbook built in mouse is teh suck.

there were maybe 2 that i was a little unsure of.

if it is true that college profs averaged 55%, it explains a lot. we are a nation of dumb fukks.

i would like to take a moment and rack the hell out of mrs kazienko, the best HS american history teacher, evah.

too damn bad my english teacher's weren't as good.

Shlomart Ben Yisrael · Mon Jul 18, 2011 11:45 pm

Name two countries that were our enemies during World War II.

* Canada and Mexico

:x

fuck you!

BTW...

This coming from a Canadian.

Truman · Post by **Truman** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 11:46 pm

smackaholic wrote:too damn bad my english teacher's weren't as good.

You truly DO enjoy tormenting ucant and goobs...

Shlomart Ben Yisrael · Mon Jul 18, 2011 11:46 pm

Can I be an honourary American?

Truman · Post by **Truman** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 11:48 pm

Martyred wrote:Can I be an honourary American?

Honorary?! Hell, you could run for elective office...

smackaholic · Post by **smackaholic** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 12:03 am

yeah. if you wanna be honourary anythin, you'll have to do it in that god forsaken frozen hell or some other place in the commonwealth.

smackaholic · Post by **smackaholic** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 1:07 am

Truman wrote:
smackaholic wrote:too damn bad my english teacher's weren't as good.
You truly DO enjoy tormenting ucant and goobs...

why, yes, i do. :twisted:

smackaholic · Post by **smackaholic** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 1:11 am

Martyred wrote:Name two countries that were our enemies during World War II.

* Canada and Mexico

:x

fuck you!

BTW...

This coming from a Canadian.

rack you, comrade, for being less stupid than the majority of my countrymen.

i really do find it mind boggling that anyone not in a comma could score under 75%.

if any of you lawyers out there score under 95%, you really do need to be disbarred immediately.

anyone scoring under 80% should not have the right to vote.

smackaholic · Post by **smackaholic** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 1:15 am

smackaholic wrote:
Martyred wrote:Name two countries that were our enemies during World War II.

* Canada and Mexico

:x

fuck you!

BTW...

This coming from a Canadian.
rack you, comrade, for being less stupid than the majority of my countrymen.

i really do find it mind boggling that anyone not in a comma could score under 75%.

if any of you lawyers out there score under 95%, you really do need to be disbarred immediately.

anyone scoring under 80% should not have the right to vote.

BTW, it was the quakers (i think) that were the old timey pacifists, along with many other lesser known christer ('sup, turd) sects.

Shlomart Ben Yisrael · Tue Jul 19, 2011 1:19 am

Thanks smackaholic. You're one of the

good guys

.

Smackie Chan · Post by **Smackie Chan** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 1:29 am

smackaholic wrote:i really do find it mind boggling that anyone not in a comma could score under 75%

Still having punctuation issues, I see.

MgoBlue-LightSpecial · Tue Jul 19, 2011 1:35 am

Smackie Chan wrote:
smackaholic wrote:i really do find it mind boggling that anyone not in a comma could score under 75%
Still having punctuation issues, I see.

It's ok. This individual apparently represents our best and brightest. We have nothing to fear.
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:|

Cuda · Post by **Cuda** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 1:51 am

Truman wrote:
Martyred wrote:Can I be an honourary American?
Honorary?! Hell, you could run for elective office...

... as a conservative

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 1:56 am

Wait... an Upper Mexican doesn't know what "profit" means?

You fuckers really should drop to your knees every day and thank the Spaghetti Monster for your neighbours.

Truman · Post by **Truman** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 2:36 am

Cuda wrote:
Truman wrote:
Martyred wrote:Can I be an honourary American?
Honorary?! Hell, you could run for elective office...
... as a conservative

Why not? You think libs know anything about the Constitution? Couldn't do any worse...

The hell's the big deal anyway? Not like electing a foreigner is unprecedented in this country. Besides, it ain't like Marty would be a novelty: We already have two Socialists elected to national office, what with Sanders representing Vermont in the Senate, and Obama repre... um, er....

Screw_Michigan · Post by **Screw_Michigan** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 2:50 am

Killian wrote:Cockbag.

28/33

My superior education, and all.

BSmack · Post by **BSmack** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 4:34 am

I was perfect on the part that was fact based. Missed 3 of the opinion questions. 30 of 33 overall.

socal · Post by **socal** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 5:00 am

You answered 29 out of 33 correctly — 87.88 %

If you have any comments or questions about the quiz, please email americancivicliteracy@isi.org.

You can consult the following table to see how citizens and elected officials scored on each question.

Incorrect Answers

Question: Free markets typically secure more economic prosperity than government’s centralized planning because:
Your Answer: property rights and contracts are best enforced by the market system
Correct Answer: the price system utilizes more local knowledge of means and ends

Question: In 1935 and 1936 the Supreme Court declared that important parts of the New Deal were unconstitutional. President Roosevelt responded by threatening to:
Your Answer: override the Supreme Court’s decisions by gaining three-quarter majorities in both houses of Congress
Correct Answer: appoint additional Supreme Court justices who shared his views

Question: International trade and specialization most often lead to which of the following?
Your Answer: an increase in a nation’s import tariffs
Correct Answer: an increase in a nation’s productivity

Question: Name two countries that were our enemies during World War II.
Your Answer: China and Russia
Correct Answer: Germany and Japan

mvscal · Post by **mvscal** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 5:45 am

Cuda wrote:the "wrong" answers were clearly questions on opinion, not fact.

Like this one:

Question: If taxes equal government spending, then:

Your Answer: government debt is zero
Correct Answer: tax per person equals government spending per person on average.

That's a horseshit answer.

Smackie Chan · Post by **Smackie Chan** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 9:45 am

mvscal wrote:
Cuda wrote:the "wrong" answers were clearly questions on opinion, not fact.
Like this one:

Question: If taxes equal government spending, then:

Your Answer: government debt is zero
Correct Answer: tax per person equals government spending per person on average.
That's a horseshit answer.

It's really not. If tomorrow the amount of tax revenue equaled gov't spending, would the debt magically disappear? If it were always that way, then your answer would be correct. But taken as a snapshot in time, there is little to no correlation between revenue/spending and debt. The correct answer will always be true, whether looked at as a snapshot in time or over a longer period since the numerators & denominators used to compute tax per person & spending per person will be the same. (Numerator = numerator & denominator = denominator in both computations, not numerator = denominator, which would result in tax and/or spending of $1 per person.) Simple math, and not an opinion.

Terry in Crapchester · Tue Jul 19, 2011 1:15 pm

Smackie Chan wrote:
mvscal wrote:
Cuda wrote:the "wrong" answers were clearly questions on opinion, not fact.
Like this one:

Question: If taxes equal government spending, then:

Your Answer: government debt is zero
Correct Answer: tax per person equals government spending per person on average.
That's a horseshit answer.
It's really not. If tomorrow the amount of tax revenue equaled gov't spending, would the debt magically disappear? If it were always that way, then your answer would be correct. But taken as a snapshot in time, there is little to no correlation between revenue/spending and debt. The correct answer will always be true, whether looked at as a snapshot in time or over a longer period since the numerators & denominators used to compute tax per person & spending per person will be the same. (Numerator = numerator & denominator = denominator in both computations, not numerator = denominator, which would result in tax and/or spending of $1 per person.) Simple math, and not an opinion.

That was one of the questions I missed, and I chose the same answer as mvscal. If you changed the word "debt" to "deficit," then that choice would've been correct. Of course, a lot of people use the terms "debt" and "deficit" interchangeably. I chose that answer based on that fact.

Goober McTuber · Post by **Goober McTuber** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 2:12 pm

Sudden Sam wrote:That southern education system really sucks, doesn't it?

GIGO.

MgoBlue-LightSpecial · Tue Jul 19, 2011 2:44 pm

So from what I can tell nobody actually got anything wrong. There are the questions they got right, and then the questions they got right where the quiz was wrong.

Gotta love T1B.

Smackie Chan · Post by **Smackie Chan** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 2:54 pm

MgoBlue-LightSpecial wrote:So from what I can tell nobody actually got anything wrong. There are the questions they got right, and then the questions they got right where the quiz was wrong.

Gotta love T1B.

Toldja everyone would ace it.

trev · Post by **trev** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 3:42 pm

You all are way smarter than the average american. No wonder I hang out here.

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 3:49 pm

Smackie Chan wrote:
mvscal wrote:
Cuda wrote:the "wrong" answers were clearly questions on opinion, not fact.
Like this one:

Question: If taxes equal government spending, then:

Your Answer: government debt is zero
Correct Answer: tax per person equals government spending per person on average.
That's a horseshit answer.
It's really not. If tomorrow the amount of tax revenue equaled gov't spending, would the debt magically disappear? If it were always that way, then your answer would be correct. But taken as a snapshot in time, there is little to no correlation between revenue/spending and debt. The correct answer will always be true, whether looked at as a snapshot in time or over a longer period since the numerators & denominators used to compute tax per person & spending per person will be the same. (Numerator = numerator & denominator = denominator in both computations, not numerator = denominator, which would result in tax and/or spending of $1 per person.) Simple math, and not an opinion.

Except it doesn't take into account any external revenues/duties the government collects.

I got that one right, by picking the "most correct" answer, but it's not 100% true.

Smackie Chan · Post by **Smackie Chan** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 4:37 pm

Dinsdale wrote:
Smackie Chan wrote:It's really not. If tomorrow the amount of tax revenue equaled gov't spending, would the debt magically disappear? If it were always that way, then your answer would be correct. But taken as a snapshot in time, there is little to no correlation between revenue/spending and debt. The correct answer will always be true, whether looked at as a snapshot in time or over a longer period since the numerators & denominators used to compute tax per person & spending per person will be the same. (Numerator = numerator & denominator = denominator in both computations, not numerator = denominator, which would result in tax and/or spending of $1 per person.) Simple math, and not an opinion.

Except it doesn't take into account any external revenues/duties the government collects.

I got that one right, by picking the "most correct" answer, but it's not 100% true.

True, the question is poorly worded or oversimplified. If gov't revenue (irrespective of the source) equals gov't spending, then revenue per person (realizing that not all income is received from taxes) will equal gov't expenditure per person. If the two always have been and always will be equal, there would be zero debt.

Cuda · Post by **Cuda** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 4:42 pm

Smackie Chan wrote: True, the question is poorly worded or oversimplified. If gov't revenue (irrespective of the source) equals gov't spending, then revenue per person (realizing that not all income is received from taxes) will equal gov't expenditure per person. If the two always have been and always will be equal, there would be zero debt.

The word "average" needs to be inserted in a number of places for that to be corret.

Smackie Chan · Post by **Smackie Chan** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 4:47 pm

Cuda wrote:
Smackie Chan wrote: True, the question is poorly worded or oversimplified. If gov't revenue (irrespective of the source) equals gov't spending, then revenue per person (realizing that not all income is received from taxes) will equal gov't expenditure per person. If the two always have been and always will be equal, there would be zero debt.
The word "average" needs to be inserted in a number of places for that to be corret.

OK, but it's pretty much implied by "per person."