Most people with any intelligence whatsoever will admit to you that our public schools are failing their students miserably. Every day, students graduate ignorant of how our country works, how laws are made and how to drive, among many other things. And just because you have a degree on your wall, doesn’t mean that you’re any smarter. A study released in 2005 by the U.S. Department of Education shows that only 25% of college graduates were “proficiently literate,” that is, “using printed and written information to function in society, to achieve one’s goals, and to develop one’s knowledge and potential.” More discussion on this study can be found here.
One of the things many people seem to be ignorant about is the name of the country they live in. They seem to erroneously refer to this country with one word: America. Yet – and I know this may come as a huge surprise to some of you – there is no country called “America”. Not now, not in the past – never! It never existed. EVER! Yet everyday, we hear people refer to this mythical place. We also have TV shows named after it like American Morning. People refer to those who live in the United States as “Americans”. Folks refer to American universities, American film, American celebrities, American culture and on and on. And then there are Native Americans. And on Oklahoma’s license plates, its used in the state’s latest marketing slogan “Native America”. When will the lunacy stop?
The country “America” does not exist! And I blame the public schools for this incompetence because they provide children at early ages with books, usually titled “American History”. And while there is a land mass known as the Americas (comprised of North America and South America) these books almost always cover United States history under the title of American History. No wonder kids think they live in America. These are people (textbook authors) should know better! They should know that children are impressionable when young and when you fill their little heads with incorrect information they will never unlearn it.
Its called The United States of America. Or just United States would also be acceptable. But not just America because that refers to a country that is not found on any map, or any globe and instead refers collectively to two entire continents. Lets try to be intelligent for once and use the correct name to refer something.
