Literacy rates are falling, and Democrats could lose big

[TexasTowelie]

Twenty-five years ago Republicans were more educated than Democrats.

Today, the inverse is true.

The education gap is readily apparent. Facts have become partisan, and Republicans have tossed whole science books out the window. It’s a strategy that appears ill-considered at first glance — after all, what good is letting a virus ransack your base?

But what if it’s not unintended, and Republicans are merely catering to a long-term dwindling literacy rate?

According to the U.S. Department of Education, 54% of Americans ages 16 to 74 now rank below a sixth grade reading level. The youngest generations are showing further declines, and numeracy scores are similarly dismal. If America continues at this pace, and power is your only goal, solidifying your base among the poorly educated might actually make a lot of sense — consequences be damned.

Certainly, the practiced con man and former President Donald Trump knew exactly who he was targeting. He didn’t even try to hide it, at one point outright exclaiming, “I love the poorly educated.” Scholars also noted he consistently spoke below a sixth grade level — a sharp contrast to his predecessor and the lowest of all presidents to date.

Read more: https://coloradonewsline.com/2021/07/28/literacy-rates-are-falling-and-democrats-could-lose-big/

[SoCalDavidS]

1. It's Why I Have Little Hope For This Country's Future nt

[elleng]

3. Ditto

[elleng]

2. 'And that's the thing: Democrats may be smarter on paper, but Republicans have mastered

the art of The Sell. In today’s fast-paced media landscape, that’s all that counts — and they know it. Yes, Democrats are winning as of late. But the party of brains is winning primarily in spite of itself, and this can’t continue forever.

Whether strategy or happenstance, it all boils down to this: Democrats need to dumb it down — and quick. They needn’t lie, but the messages must be simpler. Besides, how smart are you really if you can’t figure out how to dupe a 10-year-old?'

[Caliman73]

20. There message is easier to sell.

As advanced as we may think we are, appealing to the baser instincts in people, has always been easier than appealing to our sense of community.

I may be off on this but this is as easy and dumb as I can make both the Republican and Democratic messages.

Republican:

There are people out there who are taking things from you and they don't deserve it because they are lazy. The government is helping those lazy people and not protecting you. We will protect you.

Democratic:

There are a lot of challenges out there, but if we all work together and put in some effort into helping each other, everyone can see improvement in their lives. The government wants to help you all to make those improvements.

One involves setting up an enemy (falsely) then saying that Republicans will save you. The other involves everyone pulling together to help each other out so that we all benefit, but it involves thinking not only of yourself, but of others. It is easier to grasp onto something being "unfair" and you being a victim.

I do agree that we need to find a better way of messaging.

[littlemissmartypants]

4. I've been talking about this for ages. Last I read

We had 30% of the population that couldn't read at the third grade level. We're experiencing the dumbing down of America, for sure.

[jimfields33]

5. Really need to go back to reading writing and arithmetic

Do that exclusively and you’ll see huge increases. Once you can read, science, history, astronomy and other subjects fall into place. The foundation must be the 3 r’s. The country has lost its way. But it’s easy to get back on track.

[littlemissmartypants]

6. I blame homeschooling. The friends I have that

"homeschool" their kids talk about how great it is to just plug their kids into a program and they can teach themselves. No real supervision and the parents don't have to worry about having to learn math. It's like magic.

[jimfields33]

7. I suppose but homeschooling is like 5 percent of the students

Maybe up during the pandemic. I think it’s way more then just homeschooling.

[littlemissmartypants]

8. I'm sure that you are right. My grandmother was fluent in Latin with a high school education.

But she started high school in the early 1930's. Lots of things have changed in our beloved country since then.

It's never one thing that should be attributed to such factors and changes. It's always more complicated. I shouldn't have played the blame game here. But it's easy to do as a reflex.

❤

[I_UndergroundPanther]

22. When I was in school in the 70's

I had latin classes. We could learn Latin,Spanish,french or German.

I liked latin classes and to this day knowing latin has helped me understand stuff like medical terminology and the names of animals and plants.
and some foreign words I wouldn't know otherwise.

I have a huge vocabulary thanks to latin in high school . I actually like looking at dictionaries and thesaurus.

[Laurelin]

14. Homeschooled two kids through college

Both are dyslexic. They started school in rural Alabama with no special education available and huge class sizes. The only available private school was fundamentalist, all white, opposed teaching evolution. I felt they were white supremacists. I'm a Christian but not a fundamentalist.

One graduated summa cum laude, double major, the other magna cum laude with two degrees, from flagship state universities. Both got into highly competitive graduate programs and were close to the top of their classes.

The other home schooled kids I know had impressive academic careers and are doing well I assure you they're all quite literate. (My main group was secular. The only Christian home schooled girls i know also did extremely well in college.) I only kept in touch with one fundamentalist home school parent. The parents are Republicans but the now- adult kids are Democrats. All the others I know are Democrats.

I think it's a mistake to judge entire groups of people based on a few examples. I'm sure there are home schooling disasters, but there are also public schooled, or private schooled, disasters.

I had a truly wonderful public school education and experience and completely support public schools and school teachers. My husband loved his private schools. Most parents make the best decisions they can.

[NJCher]

10. This is it

Right here.

Signed,

A teacher

[betsuni]

9. Democrats are elites on high horses ignoring the working class?

From 1992 to 2008, whites who didn't attend college were about evenly split between the two parties. By 2015 they were 24% more likely to be Republicans. It's about race. The "diploma divide" speeded up because of reaction to President Obama and then came Trump. More education often leads to being less afraid of different people and ideas, but telling Democrats to "dumb it down"? I don't think that's going to help because it's not about being dumb, it's about being racist and afraid and angry.

The dumbing down of America has been a topic for decades. But ask people about sports or their favorite TV programs or things they're interested in and they know a hell of a lot. I don't know what to think.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

11. Sports generates more profits in short run than education. Reverse is true for long run. . . . nt

[ananda]

12. This..

It’s all about racism and corporate tyranny.

[Jim G.]

13. Idiocracy

Becoming a reality.

[Nexus2]

15. So instead of new Reich or '1984' the GOP wants 'Idiocracy'? [nt]

[Midnight Writer]

16. Look at the book industry. The number of people reading literature has plummeted.

I think folks expect instant gratification. Their attention span doesn't go beyond the length of a Tweet or a soundbite. They interpret material by picking out key words and phrases and ignore the context of what they are perceiving.

They don't have the patience to dig into a nuanced narrative or a cogent explanation.

[DavidDvorkin]

18. Book sales are at a record high.

[Blue_true]

26. Among known authors, or authors selling behind the scenes books,

like books on the Trump disaster presidency.

Talent agents only take people that are famous or well-connected, so unknown authors see book sales that are not existent.

The poster you responded to appear to be an author, likely self published due to the modern tendency of literary agents.

Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick sold less than 1500 copies. Only one of his books was a success. If it was not for his well off father-in-law supporting them, Melville’s family would have lived in poverty. Melville himself worked for almost two decades as a Customs Agent in NYC before dying of a heart attack. Melville has been for many decades considered the be the best ever American author and several of his books are considered classics (none of which sold well at all).

It seems unfair to talented people in the Arts and Literature, but that is how it works now and has always worked - Painters that lived hand to mouth and died in poverty did paintings that today sell for millions - Composers of now classics died impoverished unknowns.

Maybe what the poster was trying to say is that if numerically more people read, unknown, but supremely talented writers may have a chance of their work getting notice.

[DavidDvorkin]

27. Self-published books as a whole are doing better than ever

Although most individual self-published authors see very few sales.

Yes, too many worthy books go unread or almost unread, and that has always been the case. That's how life is in general.

[lagomorph777]

17. Reptilians have been deliberately defundng and dumbing-down education for decades.

It's no accident.

[Duppers]

19. OMG!

This is so sad.

[Kang Colby]

21. Agreed

We need to simplify the message while continuing to push for greater educational attainment. Embracing a true 50 state strategy will also help to solidify our gains in places like Arizona and Georgia.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

23. Betsy DeVos needs

To get put out of our education department. little manipulating asshole rich piece of shit ,waste of oxygen.

[TheProle]

24. Useful idiots

Are the footsoldiers for any political movement.

[RANDYWILDMAN]

25. The message is lost on low info voters

they like black and white easy to understand

Make america great again

It was a hollow slogan which meant nothing

Democrats have a great message. take care of everybody, nobody but selfish bastards should be against that.

Getting the great programs though the Senate is near impossible and I think forefathers screwed up bigtime. 60 voted in the senate, does represent 60 percent of america. The senate is where things go to die. Not even deals can really be made anymore.

[Spider Jerusalem]

28. Welcome to a post-literate society

turns out that having access to an always-on, internet-capable handheld screen wherever you go is terrible for promoting literacy; most people would rather watch a film of something than read an article or a book. (This is something that especially frustrates me, because I can grasp information much more quickly and efficiently if I read it; the shift from text-based tutorials/guides on how to do things to Youtube videos is not an improvement, IMO).