Nothing captures my attention like a story about how ignorant Americans are. National Geographic tested 18-24 year olds from 9 countries about various topics related to geography, and America finished second to last, ahead of only Mexico. Many of them couldn’t identify the Pacific Ocean or New York state. 83% couldn’t find Afghanistan on a map. Only 25% could pick the population of the United States on a multiple choice test. (The most common answer given by Americans was 1-2 billion.) Needless to say, our woeful ignorance of geography probably explains why most Americans aren’t qualified to talk about international issues, much less consider them when voting.

I got 100% of the questions right on the sample test — it wasn’t particularly difficult.