In a poll by the discovery channel, Ronald Reagan was voted the greatest American, George W. Bush the greatest living American, Elvis the 8th greatest American and Oprah the greatest American woman. Albert Einstein being voted Greates Jewish American, MLK as greatest African-American and Elenor Roosevelt as the greatest First Lady were the only bursts of reason in the superlative list.
The B.B.C. poll for greatest Britons was almost as bad, with Princess Diana as number three (the rest of the top ten were quite reasonable.)
The greates Canadian contest was reasonable, with a few too many Hockey players.
Le Plus Grand Français, Nejv?tší ?ech, and De Grootste Nederlander were all normal lists of real achievers.
Why?
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
sounds like a problem with what demographs were polled.
This can be related to what medium they used to poll as well as where they polled.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
Pel, it all comes down to demographics. Bear in mind, too, that what you consider an "achievement" may not in fact be what someone else considers an achievement.
Posted by Kasie H (Member # 2120) on :
Could we have a link?
Posted by Kasie H (Member # 2120) on :
And just remember that Ronald Reagan had recently died when this poll was conducted. Meaning everyone had his most wonderful attributes on the brain, plus they all felt bad for Nancy, when they were voting. Also California was the state from which the most votes came...lovely RR was CA GOV.
Posted by Stan the man (Member # 6249) on :
Polls don't mean anything except to the media who like to make a huge deal of them. Besides, as far as the Canadian one goes.... Is there anything up there besides hockey? Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
Einstein was German.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
quote:Originally posted by King of Men: Einstein was German.
he eventually renounced his German citezenship and became an American KOM.
Posted by Lupus (Member # 6516) on :
he was even stateless for a while.
Though, I don't think he ever was stranded in an airport.
He ended up with both American and Swiss citizenships.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
"What does your favorite animal say about you?"
"Nothing, cats can't talk. But if he COULD talk, I imagine he'd have only nice things to say."
Posted by Lissande (Member # 350) on :
I feel the need to comment that the only reason Největší čech was a "normal list of real achievers" is because the organizers refused to allow Jára Cimrman to qualify - on the grounds that competitors had to have actually lived at some point.
so far I haven't seen what this says about our societal values?
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
It says that there are a whole lot of people out there who disagree with your estimations of certain people.
Posted by The Pixiest (Member # 1863) on :
*touches her nose and points to Lisa*
Posted by Pelegius (Member # 7868) on :
I was rushed for time when I wrote this, but let me just say that German edition, Unsere Besten, with the top ten being:
Konrad Adenauer
Luther
Marx
The Scholls
Brandt
Bach
Göthe
Gutenberg
Bismark
Einstetin
while entirely predictable was a much better group (Hitler and Nazis were excluded.)
Perhaps part of this has to do with the fact that most countries' polls were conducted by state television channels (the B.B.C. was the first), while the U.S.'s was done by a private channel.
Posted by Soara (Member # 6729) on :
No one knows who they think the greatest American is. They have no idea. They may think "Oh, well I'll put Bush!" but really they have no idea.
You can't measure greatness. Great people do great deeds every day, and they never, ever become famous.
Posted by Pelegius (Member # 7868) on :
"Great people do great deeds every day, and they never, ever become famous."
Do you mean that some great people never become famous, or that none ever do. The former is true, the later false.
Choosing the greatest American is hard, amoung politicians it would have to be FDR or Lilcoln, but neither would win my highest praise. Several on the list, including Einstein and Bell (both of whom are claimed by three different countries) and even Carl Sagan would be higher on my list than Reagan. Jimmy Carter would too, for his life after the disasterous spell in the White House.
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
Lincoln was a tyrant, FDR was a disaster, and Reagan made sure the Soviet Union died.
I'll vote Reagan.
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
Arpanet killed the SovietUnion, and I'm sure you won't understand why.
Posted by Pelegius (Member # 7868) on :
"and Reagan made sure the Soviet Union died."
No empire nor mighty state has ever fallen due to external pressure alone: the Soviet Union killed itself.
Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
quote:Reagan made sure the Soviet Union died.
I have yet to see one iota of evidence that Reagan's policies had anything to do with the collapse of the Soviet Union. In fact, I have seen substantial evidence that they did not.
It seems that republicans think that if they repeat this enough times it some how makes it true. Not so. If you are going to make that claim, you are going to have to back it with evidence.
Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
quote:Originally posted by aspectre: Arpanet killed the SovietUnion, and I'm sure you won't understand why.
You are right. Please explain to us how Arpanet killed the Soviet Union.
Posted by The Pixiest (Member # 1863) on :
Pel: are you talking about mr carter hammering a few nails or the fact he negotiated the treaty that helped North Korea get nukes?
Posted by Pelegius (Member # 7868) on :
I am talking about his various roles in his post-presidency, including "hammering a few nails." (By the way, Mr Carter's treaty was designed to halt North Korean production which it temporarily did, I doubt anyone could stop Kim Il Sung from doing what he pleases in that field, but Mr Carter has been exactly as sucessful as the others that have tried.)
Posted by B34N (Member # 9597) on :
quote:Originally posted by Pelegius: In a poll by the discovery channel, Ronald Reagan was voted the greatest American, George W. Bush the greatest living American, Elvis the 8th greatest American and Oprah the greatest American woman. Albert Einstein being voted Greates Jewish American, MLK as greatest African-American and Elenor Roosevelt as the greatest First Lady were the only bursts of reason in the superlative list.
The B.B.C. poll for greatest Britons was almost as bad, with Princess Diana as number three (the rest of the top ten were quite reasonable.)
The greates Canadian contest was reasonable, with a few too many Hockey players.
Le Plus Grand Français, Nejv?tší ?ech, and De Grootste Nederlander were all normal lists of real achievers.
Why?
You don't think Oprah is the greatest American woman? Don't let her hear you say that, I hear she is not to be messed with, plus she has a lot of money and can destroy you.
Posted by Pelegius (Member # 7868) on :
Funny, Posted by B34N (Member # 9597) on :
I thought so! Sorry I'm in a wierd mood no offense meant.
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