Originally Posted by
GUWonder
The 5% number seems to have been thrown up not as a number representative fo fact -- which it is not -- but to get to sparking a comparison against some other OECD countries.
Indeed, but people like planemenchanic never picked up on that. The reality is that the number of US passport holders has increased rapidly since the 1980's (when it really was ~5%) to the current levels of ~30%. But the numbers don't tell the whole story, as others have said. State Department says that most of those passports are used to travel to Mexico and Canada. International travel? Sure is. Does that mean Americans count as "well travelled" or "meaningfully aware of other countries"? Nope. Whole different question. One that few people here have raised or caught on to.
I can only leave so many crumbs!
