Great to hear from you again Dave. It is truly a sad state of affairs. Maybe this stat will prompt our officials to take action and do something about the apathy in our younger generations.

"Seacrest's remark has already generated comments in the blogosphere, with some joking that the next presidential election should be conducted via text messaging."

What??? And leave Diebold out of the picture???
How in the world will God's Own Party ever be able to win if we do that???

I agree. If the internet is safe enough to keep my bank account and stock market account, then its secure enough to let me vote on it and validate that it is from me. I don't know how many times I didn't vote because the line was 2 hours. Also, more people would vote if they didn't know they would be on jury duty the next week after they register. They ought to separate jury duty from voter registration.

Ugh, American idol... There are so many things wrong with that show. From the age-restrictions (only 15 year olds deserve to be stars) to the nasty comments of that Simon aimed at the kids who probably all have more balls and many have more talent than he does. Those marketing devils lead the US people around by the nose, and then we wonder why nobody cares about starving children or people in other lands. As the US slides into fascism, all these people are asleep in front of the TV, excited about the possible music career of some kid that should be in high school or college studying world events or math or science.

An equally disturbing story from India:

One of the Indian news channels ran a survey a few days back - vote for your youth icon.

The choices were between: Dhoni (the cricketer), Sidhu (an ex-cricketer), Dr. Kalam (Indian President), and Abhijeet Sawant (the first Indian Idol)!!!

Dave Sidhu,
...I confess, Idol is one of the very few shows I

watch. I love to sing, love music and love seeing

all the young talent!

...I will not apologise for watching. I have now

picked two winners and two seconds. We choose when

they get down to twenty, it's a game we play in

the household.

...No matter what your cause or movement, it will

have to involve getting the kids interest. Instead,

we expect them to like what we like. They won't

very often, especially in music "tastes".

...I picked Katheren McPhee this year, they all

really wanted a guy to balance the scales. It should

have been Chris.

...Know your audience. I have kids, that's easy!

Sing on! Peace, Keith

Hi Keith, Is the Chris the bald guy? I wanted him to win....My son and I watch this every season together...it is just something fun to do together and not take so seriously!

Then....there is "24", talk about American "drama"!

Joanie

Hello Dave,

63 million votes! Understand that the majority of votes are from kids, probably younger than 14 or 15. Come on, this is American Idol, teenie bopper heaven.ruth

Dave, I have heard the voting machines have been tampered with to benefit the ruling party. I wonder if any one else has heard or read about it. I don't watch that show or any show except if Lena(my youngest) wants me to watch something with her. God bless.

although, to get an accurate comparison, what is the raw number of people of voting age who voted in american idol. i'm sure its not nearly as staggering. i think its unfair to just throw numbers around.

It should be clarified that people can vote more than once, so that is 63 million votes, not people. They are saying people from the winner's hometown voted hundreds of times.

I will never understand middle america's fixtion with this stale and cheesy show. Pop culture and low brow entertainment continue to fascinate the masses I'm afraid.

Keith said Americans badly wanted a guy this time around and got it, oddly enough, Indians will not get a gal as their idol for a long time and anyone can bet on it.

noname,

...If Geeta can sing, I think you've got your girl!

Keith, I'm sure she can, she knows there are lots of female in India who can as well, but it has been a distressing sign from Indian pop voting audience that they aren't ready or willing to make a female idol. They've had few high profile idol shows already and male takes the vote hands down. Doesn't it tells us somethin? I think it does.

Hopefully, by now, Dave must have realized that his premise of this blog is standing on false grounds. Did seacrest had any clue what he was talking about? Repeated votes from 11 year olds and you're talking politics? Give me a break.

Keith, I'm sure she can, she knows there are lots of female in India who can as well, but it has been a distressing sign from Indian pop voting audience that they aren't ready or willing to make a female idol. They've had few high profile idol shows already and male takes the vote hands down. Doesn't it tells us somethin? I think it does.

Hopefully, by now, Dave must have realized that his premise of this blog is standing on false grounds. Did seacrest had any clue what he was talking about? Repeated votes from 11 year olds and you're talking politics? Give me a break.

Well, by now I realized that posting a comment twice doesn't make it any more interesting or challenging.

The purpose of the post was to discuss the youth's enthusiasm towards a television show as compared to its interest in participating in the government -- not the "Idol" voting rules or requirements. Yes, this particular show receives votes from those under the voting age, and "Idol" viewers can vote multiple times.

But, I was hoping (perhaps too liberally) that the reader would look at the subject in a larger context: civic involvment and understanding is of vital concern to some Americans and the government. Some signs are not very encouraging. Consider, for instance, this finding by a University of Maryland study: "most formal civic education today comprises only a single course on government compared to as many as three courses in civics, democracy and government that were common in the 1960s."

One study found that 62% of respondents "couldn’t identify the three branches of government." The NAEP noted that, "Nearly 33% of high school seniors were found to lack a basic understanding of how American government works" and that "75% of students scored at 'basic' or 'below basic' on the 1998 NAEP Civics Assessment."

A survey conducted by the National Constitution Center determined that "more teens could name the Three Stooges than the three branches of government."

A study by the Department of Education revealed that "only 18 percent of fourth-graders, 17 percent of eighth-graders and 11 percent of 12th-graders scored at a proficient level" in a test of American history.

Mr Seacrest's remark, even if we accept the voting-age and multiple votes issues, is therefore troublesome because it suggests that interest in the show over interest in American governance is something positive or to be proud of.

Obviously didn't meant to post it twice, your point is well take Dave. Here's one more popular number crunching post widely circulating lately.

America by the numbers

by Michael Ventura

No concept lies more firmly embedded in our national character than the notion that the USA is "No. 1," "the greatest." Our broadcast media are, in essence, continuous advertisements for the brand name "America Is No. 1." Any office seeker saying otherwise would be committing political suicide. In fact, anyone saying otherwise will be labeled "un-American." We're an "empire," ain't we? Sure we are. An empire without a manufacturing base. An empire that must borrow $2 billion a day from its competitors in order to function. Yet the delusion is ineradicable. We're No. 1. Well...this is the country you really live in:

* The United States is 49th in the world in literacy (the New York Times, Dec. 12, 2004).
* The United States ranked 28th out of 40 countries in mathematical literacy (NYT, Dec. 12, 2004).
* Twenty percent of Americans think the sun orbits the earth. Seventeen percent believe the earth revolves around the sun once a day (The Week, Jan. 7, 2005).
* "The International Adult Literacy Survey...found that Americans with less than nine years of education 'score worse than virtually all of the other countries'" (Jeremy Rifkin's superbly documented book The European Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future Is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream, p.78).
* Our workers are so ignorant and lack so many basic skills that American businesses spend $30 billion a year on remedial training (NYT, Dec. 12, 2004). No wonder they relocate elsewhere!
* "The European Union leads the U.S. in...the number of science and engineering graduates; public research and development (R&D) expenditures; and new capital raised" (The European Dream, p.70).
* "Europe surpassed the United States in the mid-1990s as the largest producer of scientific literature" (The European Dream, p.70).
* Nevertheless, Congress cut funds to the National Science Foundation. The agency will issue 1,000 fewer research grants this year (NYT, Dec. 21, 2004).
* Foreign applications to U.S. grad schools declined 28 percent last year. Foreign student enrollment on all levels fell for the first time in three decades, but increased greatly in Europe and China. Last year Chinese grad-school graduates in the U.S. dropped 56 percent, Indians 51 percent, South Koreans 28 percent (NYT, Dec. 21, 2004). We're not the place to be anymore.
* The World Health Organization "ranked the countries of the world in terms of overall health performance, and the U.S. [was]...37th." In the fairness of health care, we're 54th. "The irony is that the United States spends more per capita for health care than any other nation in the world" (The European Dream, pp.79-80). Pay more, get lots, lots less.
* "The U.S. and South Africa are the only two developed countries in the world that do not provide health care for all their citizens" (The European Dream, p.80). Excuse me, but since when is South Africa a "developed" country? Anyway, that's the company we're keeping.
* Lack of health insurance coverage causes 18,000 unnecessary American deaths a year. (That's six times the number of people killed on 9/11.) (NYT, Jan. 12, 2005.)
* "U.S. childhood poverty now ranks 22nd, or second to last, among the developed nations. Only Mexico scores lower" (The European Dream, p.81). Been to Mexico lately? Does it look "developed" to you? Yet it's the only "developed" country to score lower in childhood poverty.
* Twelve million American families--more than 10 percent of all U.S. households--"continue to struggle, and not always successfully, to feed themselves." Families that "had members who actually went hungry at some point last year" numbered 3.9 million (NYT, Nov. 22, 2004).

* The United States is 41st in the world in infant mortality. Cuba scores higher (NYT, Jan. 12, 2005).
* Women are 70 percent more likely to die in childbirth in America than in Europe (NYT, Jan. 12, 2005).
* The leading cause of death of pregnant women in this country is murder (CNN, Dec. 14, 2004).
* "Of the 20 most developed countries in the world, the U.S. was dead last in the growth rate of total compensation to its workforce in the 1980s.... In the 1990s, the U.S. average compensation growth rate grew only slightly, at an annual rate of about 0.1 percent" (The European Dream, p.39). Yet Americans work longer hours per year than any other industrialized country, and get less vacation time.
* "Sixty-one of the 140 biggest companies on the Global Fortune 500 rankings are European, while only 50 are U.S. companies" (The European Dream, p.66). "In a recent survey of the world's 50 best companies, conducted by Global Finance, all but one were European" (The European Dream, p.69).
* "Fourteen of the 20 largest commercial banks in the world today are European.... In the chemical industry, the European company BASF is the world's leader, and three of the top six players are European. In engineering and construction, three of the top five companies are European.... The two others are Japanese. Not a single American engineering and construction company is included among the world's top nine competitors. In food and consumer products, Nestlé and Unilever, two European giants, rank first and second, respectively, in the world. In the food and drugstore retail trade, two European companies...are first and second, and European companies make up five of the top ten. Only four U.S. companies are on the list" (The European Dream, p.68).
* The United States has lost 1.3 million jobs to China in the last decade (CNN, Jan. 12, 2005).
* U.S. employers eliminated 1 million jobs in 2004 (The Week, Jan. 14, 2005).
* Three million six hundred thousand Americans ran out of unemployment insurance last year; 1.8 million--one in five--unemployed workers are jobless for more than six months (NYT, Jan. 9, 2005).
* Japan, China, Taiwan, and South Korea hold 40 percent of our government debt. (That's why we talk nice to them.) "By helping keep mortgage rates from rising, China has come to play an enormous and little-noticed role in sustaining the American housing boom" (NYT, Dec. 4, 2004). Read that twice. We owe our housing boom to China, because they want us to keep buying all that stuff they manufacture.
* Sometime in the next 10 years Brazil will probably pass the U.S. as the world's largest agricultural producer. Brazil is now the world's largest exporter of chickens, orange juice, sugar, coffee, and tobacco. Last year, Brazil passed the U.S. as the world's largest beef producer. (Hear that, you poor deluded cowboys?) As a result, while we bear record trade deficits, Brazil boasts a $30 billion trade surplus (NYT, Dec. 12, 2004).
* As of last June, the U.S. imported more food than it exported (NYT, Dec. 12, 2004).
* Bush: 62,027,582 votes. Kerry: 59,026,003 votes. Number of eligible voters who didn't show up: 79,279,000 (NYT, Dec. 26, 2004). That's more than a third. Way more. If more than a third of Iraqis don't show for their election, no country in the world will think that election legitimate.
* One-third of all U.S. children are born out of wedlock. One-half of all U.S. children will live in a one-parent house (CNN, Dec. 10, 2004).
* "Americans are now spending more money on gambling than on movies, videos, DVDs, music, and books combined" (The European Dream, p.28).
* "Nearly one out of four Americans [believe] that using violence to get what they want is acceptable" (The European Dream, p.32).
* Forty-three percent of Americans think torture is sometimes justified, according to a PEW Poll (Associated Press, Aug. 19, 2004).
* "Nearly 900,000 children were abused or neglected in 2002, the last year for which such data are available" (USA Today, Dec. 21, 2004).
* "The International Association of Chiefs of Police said that cuts by the [Bush] administration in federal aid to local police agencies have left the nation more vulnerable than ever" (USA Today, Nov. 17, 2004).

No. 1? In most important categories we're not even in the Top 10 anymore. Not even close.

The USA is "No. 1" in nothing but weaponry, consumer spending, debt, and delusion.

Reprinted from the Austin Chronicle.

Obviously didn't meant to post it twice, your point is well take Dave. Here's one more popular number crunching post widely circulating lately.

America by the numbers

by Michael Ventura

No concept lies more firmly embedded in our national character than the notion that the USA is "No. 1," "the greatest." Our broadcast media are, in essence, continuous advertisements for the brand name "America Is No. 1." Any office seeker saying otherwise would be committing political suicide. In fact, anyone saying otherwise will be labeled "un-American." We're an "empire," ain't we? Sure we are. An empire without a manufacturing base. An empire that must borrow $2 billion a day from its competitors in order to function. Yet the delusion is ineradicable. We're No. 1. Well...this is the country you really live in:

* The United States is 49th in the world in literacy (the New York Times, Dec. 12, 2004).
* The United States ranked 28th out of 40 countries in mathematical literacy (NYT, Dec. 12, 2004).
* Twenty percent of Americans think the sun orbits the earth. Seventeen percent believe the earth revolves around the sun once a day (The Week, Jan. 7, 2005).
* "The International Adult Literacy Survey...found that Americans with less than nine years of education 'score worse than virtually all of the other countries'" (Jeremy Rifkin's superbly documented book The European Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future Is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream, p.78).
* Our workers are so ignorant and lack so many basic skills that American businesses spend $30 billion a year on remedial training (NYT, Dec. 12, 2004). No wonder they relocate elsewhere!
* "The European Union leads the U.S. in...the number of science and engineering graduates; public research and development (R&D) expenditures; and new capital raised" (The European Dream, p.70).
* "Europe surpassed the United States in the mid-1990s as the largest producer of scientific literature" (The European Dream, p.70).
* Nevertheless, Congress cut funds to the National Science Foundation. The agency will issue 1,000 fewer research grants this year (NYT, Dec. 21, 2004).
* Foreign applications to U.S. grad schools declined 28 percent last year. Foreign student enrollment on all levels fell for the first time in three decades, but increased greatly in Europe and China. Last year Chinese grad-school graduates in the U.S. dropped 56 percent, Indians 51 percent, South Koreans 28 percent (NYT, Dec. 21, 2004). We're not the place to be anymore.
* The World Health Organization "ranked the countries of the world in terms of overall health performance, and the U.S. [was]...37th." In the fairness of health care, we're 54th. "The irony is that the United States spends more per capita for health care than any other nation in the world" (The European Dream, pp.79-80). Pay more, get lots, lots less.
* "The U.S. and South Africa are the only two developed countries in the world that do not provide health care for all their citizens" (The European Dream, p.80). Excuse me, but since when is South Africa a "developed" country? Anyway, that's the company we're keeping.
* Lack of health insurance coverage causes 18,000 unnecessary American deaths a year. (That's six times the number of people killed on 9/11.) (NYT, Jan. 12, 2005.)
* "U.S. childhood poverty now ranks 22nd, or second to last, among the developed nations. Only Mexico scores lower" (The European Dream, p.81). Been to Mexico lately? Does it look "developed" to you? Yet it's the only "developed" country to score lower in childhood poverty.
* Twelve million American families--more than 10 percent of all U.S. households--"continue to struggle, and not always successfully, to feed themselves." Families that "had members who actually went hungry at some point last year" numbered 3.9 million (NYT, Nov. 22, 2004).

* The United States is 41st in the world in infant mortality. Cuba scores higher (NYT, Jan. 12, 2005).
* Women are 70 percent more likely to die in childbirth in America than in Europe (NYT, Jan. 12, 2005).
* The leading cause of death of pregnant women in this country is murder (CNN, Dec. 14, 2004).
* "Of the 20 most developed countries in the world, the U.S. was dead last in the growth rate of total compensation to its workforce in the 1980s.... In the 1990s, the U.S. average compensation growth rate grew only slightly, at an annual rate of about 0.1 percent" (The European Dream, p.39). Yet Americans work longer hours per year than any other industrialized country, and get less vacation time.
* "Sixty-one of the 140 biggest companies on the Global Fortune 500 rankings are European, while only 50 are U.S. companies" (The European Dream, p.66). "In a recent survey of the world's 50 best companies, conducted by Global Finance, all but one were European" (The European Dream, p.69).
* "Fourteen of the 20 largest commercial banks in the world today are European.... In the chemical industry, the European company BASF is the world's leader, and three of the top six players are European. In engineering and construction, three of the top five companies are European.... The two others are Japanese. Not a single American engineering and construction company is included among the world's top nine competitors. In food and consumer products, Nestlé and Unilever, two European giants, rank first and second, respectively, in the world. In the food and drugstore retail trade, two European companies...are first and second, and European companies make up five of the top ten. Only four U.S. companies are on the list" (The European Dream, p.68).
* The United States has lost 1.3 million jobs to China in the last decade (CNN, Jan. 12, 2005).
* U.S. employers eliminated 1 million jobs in 2004 (The Week, Jan. 14, 2005).
* Three million six hundred thousand Americans ran out of unemployment insurance last year; 1.8 million--one in five--unemployed workers are jobless for more than six months (NYT, Jan. 9, 2005).
* Japan, China, Taiwan, and South Korea hold 40 percent of our government debt. (That's why we talk nice to them.) "By helping keep mortgage rates from rising, China has come to play an enormous and little-noticed role in sustaining the American housing boom" (NYT, Dec. 4, 2004). Read that twice. We owe our housing boom to China, because they want us to keep buying all that stuff they manufacture.
* Sometime in the next 10 years Brazil will probably pass the U.S. as the world's largest agricultural producer. Brazil is now the world's largest exporter of chickens, orange juice, sugar, coffee, and tobacco. Last year, Brazil passed the U.S. as the world's largest beef producer. (Hear that, you poor deluded cowboys?) As a result, while we bear record trade deficits, Brazil boasts a $30 billion trade surplus (NYT, Dec. 12, 2004).
* As of last June, the U.S. imported more food than it exported (NYT, Dec. 12, 2004).
* Bush: 62,027,582 votes. Kerry: 59,026,003 votes. Number of eligible voters who didn't show up: 79,279,000 (NYT, Dec. 26, 2004). That's more than a third. Way more. If more than a third of Iraqis don't show for their election, no country in the world will think that election legitimate.
* One-third of all U.S. children are born out of wedlock. One-half of all U.S. children will live in a one-parent house (CNN, Dec. 10, 2004).
* "Americans are now spending more money on gambling than on movies, videos, DVDs, music, and books combined" (The European Dream, p.28).
* "Nearly one out of four Americans [believe] that using violence to get what they want is acceptable" (The European Dream, p.32).
* Forty-three percent of Americans think torture is sometimes justified, according to a PEW Poll (Associated Press, Aug. 19, 2004).
* "Nearly 900,000 children were abused or neglected in 2002, the last year for which such data are available" (USA Today, Dec. 21, 2004).
* "The International Association of Chiefs of Police said that cuts by the [Bush] administration in federal aid to local police agencies have left the nation more vulnerable than ever" (USA Today, Nov. 17, 2004).

No. 1? In most important categories we're not even in the Top 10 anymore. Not even close.

The USA is "No. 1" in nothing but weaponry, consumer spending, debt, and delusion.

Reprinted from the Austin Chronicle.

Okay, I ain't doing anything wrong, these post of mine are just appearing twice, may be the site doesn't like my name, I mean no name, I mean name. I swear I'm not yogiraj, not playing any tricks. Okay I will sign off now, may be it will be fixed by tomorrow.

In response to the discussion you were getting at, Dave, I think the average person in this country is bored with politics, to be honest with you.

Think about it, if you worked 9 hrs a day at some minimum wage job, had to take care of bills, kids, a house, and deal with numerous worries and stresses just to survive, the last thing you would want to do is come home and watch C-Span to get educated.

People want to watch things that are fun, easy on the eyes, and that takes them away from their otherwise mundane existence. This is not to say that there is not a market for civic involvement and education, but I think people are too tired, bored, and stressed with their daily lives to really care about government.

This is like asking why Us Weekly sells more copies than the Economist.

Dave,
Thanks for another really meaningful post. I wonder though, out of all those who voted for the last "American Idol", how many are actually elligible to vote for the elected public officers? Obviously the 14-18 year olds aren't. In addition, what about non-American citizens (immigrants, etc.) and those who sadly, just aren't registered...?

I mean, in no way, to bring down your thesis. It's obviously EXTREMELY disturbing, and telling, that more people follow American Idol that American politics, but let's face it, American Idol is far more uplifting and exciting that politics...

Anyways, I boycotted American Idol for a long time, but did watch the finale...and no, I didn't vote...but I did for vote in the Presidential election!

Keep up the great posting!
Kanika

That would be 14-17 year olds...

Hello Noname,

Interesting stats. Just curious, how does the US rank in terms of countries immigrants would most want to move to or live in?

Steve

Amba, hands down number ($) 1, absolutely no doubt at all. :)

Is it any wonder why? Few words comes to mind: capitalism, materialism. Do you any more?

BTW, is it just me or it takes long for post to appear on the blog once you click the Post button?

yes noname it takes a long time to post, because it's just slow and people get a little impatient and click a second or third time, however, once is enough.

"Is it any wonder why? Few words comes to mind: capitalism, materialism. Do you any more?"

We might not be #1, but the US is a great country that's optimistic and gives hope to others, and perhaps they come because of a dream for a better life.

I wonder how many clamor to live in mainland China because of a dream?

Take care,

Steve

It is inherent that people look to satisfy their first and second needs, and US provides it well. It also suggest that the rest of the needs will flow through the same system, ie, exploding spirituality in the future. As for China, they seem to be on the same path, so who knows, the migration trend could change.

noname, You are a female? That's the problem I continue to have here. Just found out that Sans is a girl, that makes it about 7-8 times I misjudged.
I'm sorry, I don't remember you from "back when" I used to write differently. You made Me2 feel like I've lost my "touch".
Am I not so funny anymore? Am I taking things a bit too seriously? Or do you miss the yee-haw Cowboy? Southern slang? Not sarcastic enough? Should I be cussin' more? Bitchin' more? Has my big head been de-flated? Would ya like more song lyrics? Can I sweet-talk ya some? First I must know if you are single, of course...and "of age".
...I always have more questions than folks care to answer. Take your picks and strum Me2 an answer. I enjoy meeting new people here, nice to meet you!

See ya soon, Keith