I came across a very memorable, and surprisingly deep, quote that had me both stunned and laughing:
Martin: “Shall I be King?”
Amos: “I had two thoughts on that. First, it’s better to be a captain than a deckhand, thus why I am no longer a deckhand. Second, that there’s some difference between a ship and a kingdom.”
from “Magician: Master”, by Raymond E. Feist
Some people apparently think American illiteracy is growing by millions every year…
You know, I’m not realy clear on the statistics of how many people are born in the country every year, nor am I fully aware of the success/failure rate of the public (and private) school system on educating American children. But I do know this:
If those statistics are, in fact, true… they’re highly misguided.
Books. I love them. Why don’t you?
Anyone want to sit down and consider this problem for a second? How many people legally emigrate into this country yearly? Out of that number, how many are literate, or at least at a level of certain expected proficiency? I’d be willing to bet a large majority. Why? If memory serves me correctly, to become a US citizen you have to take (and pass) a class that involves learning history, and memorizing things like the Pledge of Allegiance. It would be difficult to pass a US history class if you couldn’t read… wouldn’t you think?So, we know that the legal immigration isn’t the cause of this. Could it be the public school system? It’s widely decried as an utter failure, but something tells me that this is blow a little out of proportion. Again, why? Because it gives the mainstream media something to focus on and complain about when there’s nothing else for them to get people upset over. Also, they tend to focus on the absolute poorest sections of the country. Do you think all public schools are dilapidated buildings, where kids have to walk 45 minutes to get to school, only to find out they get a piece of celery for lunch?
Right. Next?
Here’s my opinion on the supposed “giant illiteracy rate”: illegal immigrants. Most people inside the American borders agree that illegal immigration is a huge problem. Maybe not everyone, but it’s not something you can really argue. I’m in San Jose, CA … about 6-8 hours north of L.A. … and yet everytime I go to Home Depot, a car wash, or other such stereotyped places, there are very large groups of Mexican immigrants looking for, or working, low-paying manual labor jobs.
Anyways, I’m going to assume that everyone agrees that illegal immigration is real, and accounts for a large influx of people into the country every year. The question then becomes: are they literate? Are they educated? They may not speak English, but does that mean they are poor and unintelligent? No. I’m not suggesting that.
The heavily defended Southern Border.
However, statistics show that Mexico is a very poor country, and that large numbers of the population are not only poor, but also uneducated. Statistics also show that the average illegal immigrant from Mexico to America falls in the “poor” category, because they wish to find a better life for themselves and their family. (I even happen to think this is an acceptable ideal… you do anything you can to better your life as you see fit. I just am of the opinion that it should be for legal matters…)
Connect the dots that I’ve plotted for you on a very simple graph. If those numbers on illiteracy are real, and if they consider the America population to be those within the borders of the country, and not those legally present… then the answer is most likely that a large portion of the illegal immigrants are illiterate, and they are falsely inflating the “failure” of the American public school system.
Chew on that, Bill O’Reilly.