By SAMANTHA HART
Staff Writer
In 2017, 223 million people in the United States owned a smartphone. With roughly 330 million people living in the United States, only about one third of the population owns a smartphone.
That being said, the 223 million Americans with smartphones accounts for 83.8 percent of all mobile phone users globally, according to Statista.
Imagine living in a country where the population
only accounts for five percent of the total number of people on the planet but is in possession of over 80 percent of the world’s mobile phones.
That is the America we live in today.
The amount of people in America who don’t know what is going on outside of its borders is startling.
It is safe to say that most American citizens aren’t aware of global issues that don’t involve the United States, despite always carrying the world at their fingertips.
In fact, Americans generally know very little about the United States itself, so the idea that Americans know close to nothing about global issues is a safe bet.
“A majority (53 percent) believe the Constitution a ords undocumented immigrants no rights. However, everyone in the U.S. is entitled to due process of law and the right to make their case before the courts, at the least,” according to a survey by CNN Politics.
About 37 percent of people asked during a 2017 poll by the University of Pennsylvania could not name a single right listed in the First Amendment.
It’s also interesting to compare the differences between magazine covers in different parts of the world.
One issue of Time Magazine published in Asia, Europe and the South Paci c showed a picture of an Arab rebel wearing a gas mask with the caption “Revolution Redux.”
That same issue published in America had a stick figure cartoon on it with the caption “Why Anxiety is Good For You,” according to a comparison done by Business Insider.
Naturally, Time Magazine wants to alter the edition based on location and what will most likely bring in the highest number of sales. But isn’t it interesting that other places around the world care and are informed about what is going on in other countries and how America is in its own bubble?
Despite having access to millions of references of information every day, Americans are even less informed than the next country.
