Myopic America

Let's be honest with ourselves. We are pretty self-centered as a country.

I was reminded of this on a plane ride home from New Orleans yesterday. I was sitting in a area that was surrounded by a group of French physicians and/or nurses (I know this because they were carrying the same totes from the conference I was attending) that were heading back to France. And at least two of them (sitting across from me) had two different French magazines...with Barack Obama on the cover.

This caught my attention for several reasons. It must be very difficult to find French magazines in the States, so they must have brought them with them from home. But here was the President Elect on the cover. When do you recall ever seeing the French President Elect on the cover of any US magazine? I don't. Can you even name the French President? Don't go look it up and post the answer in a comment - I mean recall the name from memory...right now.

Forget France. How about our friends in the UK. Do you know the name of the UK Prime Minister? How about naming two other countries that border Iraq? Do you know what country the city of Monte Carlo is in? Do I need to go on? Have I made my point?

Do you ever notice how US-centric our news is in the States? Apart from Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan, we rarely ever hear about anything else happening in the rest of the world. Turn on the news tonight and count how many news stories come from around the world, with the exception of these three places.

When was the last time you heard about the genocide still occurring in Darfur? How about any news from Africa for that matter?

In 2002, here were some (embarrassing) findings from geography scores of young Americans:

WHERE IN THE WORLD
Among 18- to 24-year-old Americans given maps:

• 87 percent cannot find Iraq
• 83 percent cannot find Afghanistan
• 76 percent cannot find Saudi Arabia
• 70 percent cannot find New Jersey
• 49 percent cannot find New York
• 11 percent cannot find the United States

Learn something about the world this week you didn't know before. I dare you!