Memories of the 28th Century

A little while ago, I was reminded of the root causes of political freedom and relative equality. Someone asked about the demographics of the people who threw off the royals here in the United States of America. I commented that they were mostly of British ancestry, but they were literate. That reminded me of some information that I learned a number of years ago. In 1770 CE the world's average literacy rate was about ten or fifteen percent. the literacy rate in Western Europe was about 40 %. in the British colonies in north America, the literacy rate was about 60 %, but in New England, the rate was about 70%. It was there in those colonies that a revolution was happening.

While the American Revolution was caused by government abuses, the kindling was literacy. Most of the world's governments were abusive of their citizens, and they sought to give the rulers more and better, while the commoners were allowed to get enough to keep them from rebelling. The British colonies in North America had been started by people who were not happy in Europe because of government abuses and religious discrimination, and most of those people were literate. In America, they and their descendants continued to be dissatisfied, and literacy expanded, so ideas could spread more easily.

This situation led to a revolution that threw off the government and established a new government that was to protect the people in general.
The government that was set up to run the United States has ceased to protect the people from government abuses, and the rich are being allowed to take advantage of thee commoners. The new administration has made it clear that helping the wealthiest people to become wealthier is its primary goal.

A few decades ago, there were widespread protests against government abuses and in equality, but we didn't go far enough, and in the years since then the government has slid back into its habit of setting things up so the rich get richer and the poor don't rebel. The new administration promises to help their rich friends even, more than usual, and to pass tax laws to make themselves richer at the expense of the commoners.

The largest share of blame should go to the decreased literacy among the American people. Entertainment and information are being served on the internet and in videos, so many people don't bother learning how to read well and keeping at it. Information in videos is entertaining, but it neglects the details and the relationships among different information. The ones who yell the loudest and most persistently are treated as if they were right. But if you want the actual information, you have to read the dull details in the notes. The headlines attract attention, but they don't even tell what is in the article.

We ended up with Trump being elected, because many people prefer entertainment over information. Trump presented lies in ways that many people found entertaining. The Dems provided another set of lies in ways that fewer people found entertaining. The electorate was not presented with the facts. A few decades ago, we did not build a continent of Earth and Fire, as the Airplane suggested that we should, and many people slid into comfortable positions. It isn't too late, yet. We can build the country should have been here. We will have to remember a few thins: We need tax laws that treat everyone the same. It is unacceptable that Trump and other rich people pay little or nothing, while working people pay large percentages of their income in taxes.

Criminals must be punished, and that includes Trump and his friends, and it also includes illegal aliens, like Musk and some street criminals.
People who live their own lives without harming others must be allowed to continue to do so. If some people don't like that, then they should look elsewhere.
Even before there were major restrictions on immigration, criminals were not allowed in, but the failure to keep criminals out of the country had allowed many in. But the recently immigrated criminals are not as bad as the homegrown criminals who have been playing for decades, and the president elect is only one of those criminals.

Remember that literacy is the important thing. If people can read and understand the facts, then it will be impossible for government to abuse them, because they will not allow it.







https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/c...literacy-rates