The British are definitely not stupid

I vaguely recall an editorial column by the outspokenly ignorant individual Ken Concannon last week on the topic of education, wherein he presumptuously stated that “Brits are stupid.” Assuming Mr. Concannon still gets his information from the same pool of questionable sources, let me inform you that Britons, in fact, are quite intelligent and worldly, unlike their American counterparts. Let me explain why.

It is no secret that America is a relatively new country — though you would never believe it the way we speak so highly of ourselves. We have only graced this earth with our presence for two hundred short years.

Britain, however, has long since established itself and has endured for thousands of years through almost every imaginable hardship. It would not have been able to survive had it not been for its brilliance, resourcefulness and unending desire to perpetuate its knowledge. The country has learned not only from its mistakes, but by observing all of the mistakes of history and the world around it.

The vast majority of Britons are also more intelligent than Americans when it comes to politics, with the main reason being that they are actually kept abreast of what is going on within their government. The British government keeps tight-lipped over issues that may compromise its security as a whole. Aside from this, its elected officials divulge information to its public openly and indiscriminately. This differs greatly with the American form of governance, where the government sees no harm in lying to and misleading its citizens.

The British government trusts its people enough to include them in discussions that pose questions to all sides, leaving them to ultimately form their opinion based on the facts presented, whereas ours thinks so little of us that it would try to frighten us all to the point where anything we hear is believable and is not to be contested.

By no means do I attest that the British government is flawless. No government has achieved perfection and everyone makes mistakes.

The difference between our country and Britain is simply that the British people have been humble enough to learn from their mistakes so as not to repeat them.

SAMANTHA BALL
Manassas