The Power of Ignorance

Arriving in Bloomington this fall, the town’s university culture immediately invigorated me. What about Bloomington sets it apart from the average American town? For one, it has the 9th highest per capita Ph.D. rate in the nation. And having a large population of people versed well enough in current issues and the English language to produce 150-page theses provides a degree of contrast with the American populace at large, in which the rate for functional illiteracy runs around 14 percent.\nThe prospect of that 14 percent heading to the polls in only eight months should be one factor under consideration when our nation will undoubtedly reflect on its elector system again this fall. Remember Palm Beach County, Fla., in 2000? \nAt face value, it’s concerning that such a large segment of the population eligible to cast a ballot has insufficient skills to comprehend even the name, party and office of the candidate for whom they vote. Then again, only 60 percent of citizens exercised their right to vote in the 2000 presidential elections, and I feel safe saying most people who struggle reading street signs and their medicinal instructions were not sufficiently invested in the campaign to register to vote.\nUnquestionably more concerning than the prospect of people shirking basic democratic obligations is the fact that 60 percent of Americans do show up at the polling place to select who should be the most powerful person in the world.\nThat figure is worrisome because only 57 percent of American adults can be compelled to read any book at all in the course of a year – and yes, that figure is inflated because it includes the middle-aged woman with a romance novel on the beach as doing “real” reading.\nOur society is becoming apathetic to literacy. We love advertisements that catch our eye for a moment as we drive by, which tell us more about the naked model holding the product than about the product itself. We find USA Today with its colorful banner and bulleted points rather than the serious New York Times or Wall Street Journal staring at us when we exit hotel rooms in the morning. The majority of us can read, but choose not to.\nIn an environment so hostile to critical thought, should we really consider abolishing the electoral college voting system?\nI say no, even as a staunch proponent of democracy.