Americans do not have a monopoly on ignorance (which is what we're really talking about here and this is different from stupidity).
IceOwl, a Canadian, recently insisted that Canada is a
republic. I think he's changed his mind now, but still, I didn't expect someone as knowledgeable as he is to say something like this.
I use this as an example to show that just because someone has a hole in their depth of knowledge or understanding does not make them stupid.
Some could say that Paris Hilton is stupid, but then look how much money the girl has made by shrewdly marketing herself. She may not be terribly well informed, but her business acumen is quite enviable.
On the other side of things, people from outside of the USA tend not to comprehend that we do not go to the government for leadership on every issue such as health care. Nor do we want to. Americans have an inherent distrust of central governance and our domestic policies reflect this on both sides of the political spectrum.
The right eschews central control of the economy and health care while the left eschews central control of national security and international trade. Both sides often find common ground on various civil rights issues and it's not all that unusual to see radical left and radical right come together against the FBI and etc.
Self-defence is something that we take for granted and as common sense while the Brits have yet to repeal their laws that restrict and prohibit self defence to the point that if you get attacked in the UK you're best off just taking it.
Otherwise after the criminals rob and rape you the constabulary and the CP will be next in line.
In the USA we have the right to defend ourselves from our own government and it is not uncommon to see a citizen involved with a police officer to some extent or another and to be cleared of any charges for defending themselves from the police.
Case in point: the 11 people who survived the Waco siege were put up on charges for murdering the four ATF agents who died in the initial assault on the compound. All eleven were acquitted and later found factually innocent and
justified for defending themselves with lethal force from the ATF.
Would that happen in Russia? England? France? Canada?
I doubt it.
Americans have been misunderstood and underestimated for a very long time and that won't change anytime soon, I'm sure.
Are we ignorant of a lot of things? Yes, we are and I'll be the first to say so.
Are we stupid?
Sometimes.
But as the oldest continous republic in human history we've obviously been pretty damned smart about the things that really matter.
Sorry that doesn't include an almost anally retentive and self-important fascination with health care or gun control.
Sorry we don't give a rip about the World Cup.
And I'm not sorry that we're the ones almost everyone turns to for help when the chips are down.
A couple years ago we didn't know too much about Indonesia. That didn't stop us from burying that country in assistance and aid after the tsunami in 2004. Most Americans still can't find it on a map, but if you asked, most of them would readily write you a check to help them out.
I don't see how that could be construed as 'stupid'.