In Chris Hedges’s article, “America
the Illiterate” he claims that as a whole, our nation is becoming more
illiterate. The first issue I take with the article is where did Hedges gather
his literacy rates? It is impossible to gauge the real rates accurately but at
the same time there are two sides to every story. A liberal newspaper will post
lower literacy rates to make us more apathetic to the plight of the
unfortunate. A conservative paper would say we have high literacy rates. There
is no way to say exactly which it is though. As a whole the idea that because
certain percentages of our nation received only a high school diploma means
they are less literate means nothing. There are college kids who may be less
literate than someone who received no diplomas.
While I
understand people are less apt to reading than previous generations, it doesn’t
make them any less illiterate. It would make sense that most illiterate people
do not vote, because they may not be capable of reading news articles, however,
to say that political candidates are focusing their campaigns on that specific
group is ludicrous. They may use media to get there point across, but simply
because it is the easiest most affective method. If one political candidate
were to post his ideals, beliefs, and reasons for his eventual candidacy on
websites solely versus the normal campaign methods, he/she would never be heard
of.
Finally,
the discussion about the Princeton Reviews findings on the debates on late 1900’s
candidates versus ones like Douglas and Lincoln, are absurd. The scoring system
is completely biased, as is the idea that because those men spoke on a more
intellectual level, they were more literate. Those men spoke the way they did
regardless if people would understand the message they sought to express. The
only reason current political candidates may be scored on a lower level because
they are trying to appeal to an entire population of people, from 18 year olds
to people in there 80’s.
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