Where is Afghanistan? A Question of Political Literacy

This picture (and the video below) are not meant to
offend anyone more so it is a reflection of the ideas I
 am tackling in this post .

It seems that when researching political literacy in both Germany and the US a clear opinion has been formed by the international community, that being of course that while Germans were highly aware of politics specifically international politics Americans were ... well, lets just say they left much to be desired. 

Such strong conclusions leads one to wonder why exactly this is. Both Germany and the US are powerful international forces on both the humanitarian and economic fronts. The US is one of the worlds main consumer of goods and Germany is the EU's current economic powerhouse leading to immense economic responsibility for both countries in the international market . Beyond the economic inter-connectivity the international involvement of both Germany and the US further connect them to the greater world community. Even more so for the US who has for a long time been involved in wars with Iraq and Afghanistan as well as holding leadership roles such as their Security Council spot in the UN . 

Despite this popular surveys often come out expressing statistics that strive to prove Americans inherent ignorance of the political world around them . A popular article by National Geographic quotes a survey as finding that " only 17 percent of young adults in the United States could find Afghanistan on a map," now not only is this sad its also very embarrassing for the American public. Some say that such geographic illiteracy is the cause of american centralism while many others blame it on a failing school system , either way the consensus is that such failure is not only unacceptable but dangerous as well .

Germany on the other hand suffers this type of scrutiny a lot less than their US counterparts, my guess is that this is because they consistently score higher in the types of surveys above . German news is also generally geared towards more international issues where as anyone who watches American broadcasting knows this is generally not the case in the states. While I haven't been to Germany yet and theres not a whole lot of information out there about Germans literacy on topics concerning geography and politics I think this in and of itself is a fairly safe sign that such scrutiny does not exist at the level it does in the US. What I have generally heard from many sources including past exchangers and CBYX coordinators is how much Germans really enjoy politics and talking about politics. 

I remember sitting at a desk, in a classroom not unlike any other, in Winterhhaven, FL for my semi-finalist interview one morning when one of the CIEE-CBYX grant-coordinators asked something along the lines of " If you are in Germany and someone wants to talk to you about current political issues, especially those concerning the US , what would you do ?"; My response was quick concise and confident I loved politics I would give them my view and express that I did not speak for ALL AMERICANS whose beliefs differed greatly. 

Good answer right , I still stand by what I said , I do love politics and never mind talking about my opinions but my question now is quite different . How do I get Germans to look past the already preconceived stereotypes of Americans and take my opinions seriously, more importantly how do I get over my own fear of not being good enough to do this?

I've realized that my job is not to change any preconceived ideas that people may have, even though inside it may be one of my many goals for next year. Although it is hard to confront statistics of US ignorance , especially when like me you have not seen a whole lot of it , it is also important to note that it is harder for someone talking to you to confront the notion that a person does not fit the stereotype they imagined . Furthermore I think its time I had a little more confidence in my knowledge of politics, not everyone knows everything but I feel like my knowledge at the very least is adequate . My international relations/ comparative politics teacher I'm sure will be proud when I finally harness all my knowledge and put it to good use next year.