It's always been this way, older people love running down younger people. The hillarious thing is they never let the young people speak for themselves. My theory is they're scared shitless of them so they try to make them appear as stupid and brainless as possible. Just look at what they've done with the voting system! No under 18's allowed to vote? The government makes decisions that effect their lives constantly and give them absolutely no choice in the matter so why can't they have a say? Why is it the constitution only lets someone who is 35 years or older become president? Alexander conquered most of the bloody world and he died at 32! There are leaders throughout history that have been far younger than 35. Stupid stupid baseless logic invented by old people because they're shit scared of young people and how open minded they are to change and new ideas.
Ignorance is inexcusable in this day and age. But trivia is equally meaningless. In what circumstance will I ever need to know the location of Iraq in a tighter timeframe than I can google it? None. You speak of Vietnam (100% analogous to the Iraqi war, good for you to notice!). There were two groups of people that composed 20% of the population total. 10% were warhawks that got us into the mess, the other 10% were hippies that protested. The other 80% of the population were just trying to live their lives, trying to pay a mortgage, and provide for their kids. Just like now. My point is, better questions than "where is Iraq on a map" are "why is Iraq important to the USA? Why are our troops dying there? and What event must occur so they can come home?" When I rule the world, I will make sure that before you can vote, you must answer the questions "What major military actions were your country involved in? Why? What was the outcome? What would you have changed to make the world a better place?" And your answers certainly don't have to agree with mine. But they sure as hell will require some knowledge of history and a defined world view. Wow, I got off topic..
Rand Paul says if he gets into the senate he'll pass a bill that forces politicians to actually read the things they vote on. I fully support this kind of thing