Books 'R(n't) Us

80% of families in the United States DIDN’T BUY A BOOK in 2007. What…what is going on. Books are awesome. Aside from that being rather frightening, it also troubled me when Chris Hedge suggested that people become slaves to their illiteracy. He discussed how people who can’t read only eat at places where they can order from pictures or how the same people can’t read a prescription on a bottle of pills. It’s strange to think some people can’t read. In Carr’s article he mentions how reading is a learned behavior not a given one, so I suppose it shouldn’t be so outlandish. But it’s kind of the basics, like if someone couldn’t add, subtract, multiply, or divide (and if a lot of people can’t do that either, we’ve got another problem). I don’t even remember learning to read, just like I don’t remember learning to speak. It wasn’t something to study for or take tests on, it just happened. I suppose I should thank my parents for that.

Hedge describes America as being split into two worlds, the literate and the illiterate, and from what I gathered he thinks this is a bad thing. The illiterate (which includes those who can read but at a very low level) can’t fully participate in society. He makes an example of political campaigns, saying that many illiterate people don’t vote, and those who do make their decision based on pictures and propaganda geared toward emotional appeal. But still, it’s not so much being able to read as what being able to read allows you to do. Hedge’s closing statement sums it up:

“The core values of our open society, the ability to think for oneself, to draw independent conclusions, to express dissent when judgment and common sense indicate something is wrong, to be self-critical, to challenge authority, to understand historical facts, to separate truth from lies, to advocate for change and to acknowledge that there are other views, different ways of being, that are morally and socially acceptable, are dying.”

He sees illiteracy as lacking the ability to be an individual, to make informed choices based on the facts around you, and not letting yourself be manipulated.

Other than the frightening facts about book reading habits, Hedge’s and Carr’s articles don’t have much of the same message. Hedge’s is about the plight of illiteracy while Carr’s is about a new kind of literacy, the way reading may change.

Also, on a completely unrelated note, I’d like to add that I do not appreciate his dig at Disney. I doubt even Mickey Mouse would be the most famous person anymore.