|
|
| GeoCommunity Mailing List |
| |
| Mailing List Archives |
| Subject: | RE: GISList: Ouch! What timing.... |
| Date: |
11/21/2002 02:18:16 PM |
| From: |
Dimitri Rotow |
|
|
> My guess is that 99% of Iraqis, Iranians and perhaps even N. Koreans,
> know where the US is on a map and may even know where Washington DC is,
> and where NYC is as well. It's not a matter of money per se, because
Ummm, even allowing for some rhetorical flourish in making your point I'd
strongly disagree. Most Iraquis, Iranians and North Koreans are woefully
ignorant of world geography. I doubt that 89% percent could pick out the US
(or even their own countries) on a world map. Given the dictatorial nature
of the regimes it might be the very first time many respondants would have
even seen a world map.
Keep in mind that in fundamentalist Islamic nations women are not formally
educated, which tends to remove about 50% of the population from close
familiarity with world geography. Also, recall that in places like North
Korea maps are still state secrets (not to mention that a significant
percentage of North Koreans are starving to death and so have little
mindshare for world geography).
Actually, I'm astonished that as many as 1 in 10 Americans could correctly
pick out Iraq. I would have expected less. I'd expect a fairly high
percentage, say, 1 in 4 to be able to identify the Middle East as a region
and known that Iraq is in there, somewhere.
> per capita there is a lot more cash spent on education in those surveyed
> countries that in the above mentioned countries. It's a matter of
> perspective in some sense. We (yes, Canada too) have the luxury of not
Surely Westerners have a broader perspective because at least we have some
freedom of travel and (at least theoretically, if we allow ourselves to
ignore the vote-nullifying practise of Gerrymandering) the ability to
influence the political process. They don't have that in Iraq, Iran or
North Korea so it doesn't really matter what the average person there knows
or doesn't know about geography. They just do what their dictatorships tell
them, like it or not.
> part, it does not have a direct impact on daily lives, unless and until
> it costs more to heat our homes, drive that monster truck, takes longer
> to wait in line at airport security because an ex-con is frisking
Given the massive impact of government in the US I'd say the biggest cause
and effect from geographic ignorance happens as a result of Gerrymandering.
It exploits the public's ignorance of geography to steal from them what most
would credulously say is the defining aspect of our republic: the ability to
vote in fair and free elections where the people ultimately guide the course
of our nation.
Take a look at the Manifold map server's 107th Congressional Districts map
at
http://exchange.manifold.net/congress/default.asp
In the Find box in the upper right hand part of the display enter "Barton"
and then press Go. This will search for "Barton" within the full name of
the Congressmen and display Joe Barton's incredibly Gerrymandered district.
I ask you... just how many people know the bizarre geography of their
state's redistricting and just how many of them understand geography and GIS
well enough to realize how the process nullifies their vote? This is a
bipartisan issue, by the way, since voters from both parties have their
votes nullified through Gerrymandering. Although it affects only
Congressmen, considering that the House is supposed to be the legislative
branch most sensitive to the wishes of the people (hence elections every two
years) and the House is where appropriations bills originate (spending
money - the source of all power in Washington), Gerrymandering is a highly
effective way of eliminating the ability of voters to influence government
in exactly the spot where their influence was supposed to be greatest.
By the way, for international participants in this list, "Gerrymandering" is
the practise of drawing the boundaries of electoral districts so that it is
impossible (given the known composition of the population) for an opposition
party in that district to assemble a majority. It guarantees the incumbent
a win in the election.
How it works is this: suppose you have a population that's 50% Democratic
and 50% Republican and you need to elect two representatives. If the
population is dispersed homogeneously you break the region into two equal
parts and you get a free and fair election. But, populations are not
dispersed homogeneously: people tend to live among like-minded political
types based on factors like class, race and economic achievement, so it is
possible to divide a geography with an overall 50-50 split into sub-areas
such that in one electoral region 90% are Democrats and 10% Republicans and
in the other region 90% are Republicans and 10% are Democrats. Thus, each
region will always elect the incumbent. For those 20% of voters living in a
rigged district, their votes do
|
|
Sponsored by:
For information
regarding
advertising rates
Click Here!
|
