The Validity of Cartographers Points in West Wing

           When the Organization of Cartographers for Social Equality (in an episode of West Wing) came for their meeting to prove why the Peters Projection Map needs to be used, they made many points and many of them were perfectly valid for the main goal they were striving for. The goal that the cartographers were striving for is to make it mandatory for all public schools in America to teach geography using the Peters Projection Map instead of the standard Mercator Map. One of the first points that was made to reach this conclusion was that the Mercator is instilling attitudes in people that is leading them to believe the false map. The detailed evidence that was provided shows that this is very valid. On the Mercator, Greenland is the same size as Africa, but in reality Africa is 14 times larger than Greenland. Along with this, Europe appears to be the same size as South America but, South America is double the size. Lastly, Germany is shown to be in the middle of the map when in reality, it is in the northern most corner. All of these points are extremely true and exactly what has been put in the minds of humans. Saying that the map puts false information into our minds is very much so supported by the truth of the nations and continents being completely different sizes and locations on the Mercator.

           Along with this, the cartographers said how as people we associate the size of a country with their value and power. This point is also very valid because naturally, when something is bigger we say that it is greater. This mindset makes us think lesser of the smaller countries and put aside third world countries, just like they said in the video. All of the points made during the short clip are all valid because they all prove how American's mindset on the maps is completely distorted because of the Mercator Map. The cartographers are completely correct when saying that all public schools should transfer to the Peters Projection Map.