More (not so) fun facts:
54% of American adults read below a 6th grade level.
21% read below a 5th grade level, which is considered functionally illiterate.
High immigration numbers don’t fully explain it either, as first gen immigrants only make up about 1/3 of those with low literacy.
Exactly. Or just enough to read an opinion piece, but not enough to consider conceptual flaws in the argument or the author’s intent/biases.
The other end is concerning too. I sometimes get the sense that even well-intentioned “elites” in politics/journalism/media come up with solutions for stuff that would work in their bubble, but are a complete disaster when applied to the general public because the nuance is lost.
“That’s right, it goes in the square hole!”
because elites don’t live outside the bubble and they don’t know how the rest of us live. they are born into it and never step outside of it outside of it, except for well-manicured volunteering like when they do teach for America for a year or two.
and when we tell them, they tell us we are stupid and wrong and misguided and that they know better than us.
and they wonder why we resent them… they are ‘just trying to help’ us ‘little people’.