In the Republican primary leading up to the 2012 presidential election, candidate Herman Cain was asked if he is ready for "gotcha" questions, such as "who is the president of Uzbekistan?" Cain responded -- almost proudly -- that he does not know who the president of "Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan" is. While Cain had been rising in popularity, this comment drew huge amounts of criticism, turning him into a punchline rather than a serious presidential candidate. "Knowing who is the head of some of these small, insignificant states around the world," Cain continued, "I don't think that is something that's critical to focusing on national security and getting this economy going."
While this confession may not have been the most politically savvy move we've ever seen, perhaps the media and the public were going a bit too rough on poor Herman. After all, the nation was still trying to claw its way back from the Great Recession, and Cain was simply arguing that there are more productive ways for him to spend his time than memorizing names of leaders around the world. While the public would perhaps rather not admit it, there is a cost to acquiring any types of knowledge. Any minute that Cain would have spent memorizing the names of foreign leaders is a minute that he could have spent perfecting his plans for combatting the recession, altering our involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, or tackling any of the other hot-button issues of the time. But alas, people do not earn their way to the White House by boasting that they are rationally ignorant. In spite of the fact that Cain's argument was economically coherent, it would not sell on the campaign trail.
And by the way, the president of Uzbekistan is Shavkat Mirziyoyev. Obviously.
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