If Ignorance is Bliss, The US is the Happiest Superpower
Knowledge is power, and the key to knowledge is literacy of the population. I’ll put the bottomline up front… compared to Russia and China, the United States is a relatively illiterate country. This has profound implications for the future of the United States in its quest to remain the hegemon. Let me give you three historical markers — 1925, 1955 and 2024 — and see if you can spot the trend.
1925
In 1925, the literacy rate in China was extremely low—estimated at around 15% or less, with some sources suggesting it could have been as low as 5–10% depending on the region and methodology used.
In 1925, Russia (then part of the Soviet Union) had a literacy rate of approximately 40–50%, a significant improvement from pre-revolutionary times, but still uneven across regions and demographics.
In 1925, the United States had an estimated literacy rate of around 90–95% for the white population, though with significant racial and regional disparities. Black literacy was estimated at60–70% (improving since 1870 but hindered by Jim Crow laws and underfunded segregated schools, especially in the South).
1955
China’s literacy rate in 1955 is estimated to have been around 20% to 28%.
In 1955, the literacy rate in the Soviet Union, including the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), was estimated to be around 98%.
In 1955, the literacy rate in the United States was estimated to be around 97% for adults aged 15 and over.
2024
As of 2024, China’s adult literacy rate (ages 15 and above) is estimated to be approximately 97%. This figure reflects a steady increase from previous decades, with the literacy rate recorded at 96.74% in 2020. Notably, the youth literacy rate (ages 15–24) in China has reached 100% since 2010, indicating universal literacy among younger generations.
As of 2024, approximately 79% of U.S. adults are considered literate, meaning they possess basic reading and writing skills. This indicates that about 21% of adults in the United States are classified as illiterate. 54% of adults read below a 6th-grade level, with 20% reading below a 5th-grade level.
If Donald Trump is serious about MAGA, aka Make America Great Again, the problem is not lack of manufacturing jobs… it is something more profound. The trend in the United States is unmistakable… we are literally dumbing down.The ability to read at an eighth grade level translates into ones ability to do critical thinking.
The comparative statistics on literacy rates in Russia, China and the United States is a damning indictment of the supposed superiority of the Western system of capitalism. Frankly, I was shocked by the US numbers. We are living in an age where information and knowledge are more widely available than at any time in human history… and that wealth of information is growing with each passing year. Yet, an estimated 25% of Americans are incapable of reading and deciphering written instructions that accompany products that one can assemble in the privacy of their own home.
There are a couple of advantages with an illiterate population… they are easier to bamboozle and manipulate. The physical act of reading words, regardless of the language, wires neural pathways in the brain, which are essential to developing critical thinking skills. Now I understand why Donald Trump speaks the way he does… not because he is illiterate or uneducated, but he apparently understands that a large swath of the American public have the literary skills of a sixth grader.
In the year 2000, the literacy rate in the United States was estimated to be approximately 99% for individuals aged 15 and above. More detailed assessments, such as the National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS) conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), provide a nuanced understanding of literacy skills. These surveys categorize adults into different proficiency levels:
Level 1: Below basic literacy skills
Level 2: Basic literacy skills
Level 3: Intermediate literacy skills
Level 4: Advanced literacy skills
While the exact distribution of U.S. adults across these levels in 2000 is not readily available, subsequent surveys have shown that a significant portion of the adult population struggles with higher-level literacy tasks. For instance, the 2013 Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) survey revealed that approximately 21% of U.S. adults performed at or below Level 1 in literacy, indicating challenges with tasks requiring more complex reading and comprehension skills.
For my readers who live outside the United States, I wonder if you are as shocked by these numbers as I am, or if you already suspected it to be the case?
I had a great chat with Garland Nixon today on the latest developments in the Middle East and the war in Ukraine:
Not in the least surprised with regard to literacy in the USA. Have met Americans all over the world..........childlike/shopoholics.
I had to half coach my daughter whilst she was in school in the LA School District. No Geography/World History and endless book reports, which she discovered meant reading the blurb on the back of the book.
In California in the 90's under Gov. Wilson (what was it then? Contract With America?) it was decided smart people want to make too much money or something like that and the "dumbing down" of the United States was put in action. Grade schools were underfunded, even the better schools, poorly maintained and police with child-terrorizing dogs were sent in to sniff out drugs and gangs, gangs, gangs, all over the news. Kids in groups of three were frisked and intimidated, gang murders random and impulsive were nightly news. Lotteries were introduced to "save the schools" but they only let the schools survive on less tax money. Universities became usurers. Police became over-armed, right bashing, self disciplining wanna be soldiers.