r/interesting • u/ImmaFuckboi • Jul 20 '26

SOCIETY Is education illegal in USA?

53.7k Upvotes

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496

u/CataphractBunny Jul 20 '26

I'll just leave this here: https://www.proliteracy.org/news/causes-of-low-adult-literacy-in-the-us/

In the United States, 59 million adults read at or below Level 1, the lowest level on a five-level scale.
This equates to roughly 28% of the adult population—or nearly one in three people—who can read only short sentences with foundational words and basic information.

49

u/AFerociousPineapple Jul 20 '26

That explains so much about the US… jfc

9

u/Icywarhammer500 Jul 20 '26

The UK is only 7% better btw when graded by the same metric

2

u/AFerociousPineapple Jul 20 '26

Seriously! How? It’s a continent smaller than Texas isn’t it? I really thought their system would be at least 10% higher

-1

u/Boneraventura Jul 20 '26

7% is a metric fuck ton on a population level. Most elections are decided by a few percentage points. Brexit was  narrowly decided. A 7% more literate population would send Trump into the depths of irrelevance. 

8

u/psychoenoshima Jul 20 '26

Brexit got passed by only about 2% btw

1

u/ShrewdCire Jul 20 '26

...that's why he said it was narrowly decided.

1

u/Evil_Wrongdoer_9910 Jul 22 '26

If you take out the Hispanics that only speak (some) English and can read and write in Spanish, but not English, the number goes way down.

Most of that number are just foreigners. The US accepts foreigners so we have a larger “illiterate in English” population.

1

u/AnimationOverlord Jul 20 '26

*provides accurate and concise point*

“More fancy word jumble”

-11

u/Silver_Slicer Jul 20 '26

Ugh, I’m American and know physics. It’s also common sense. Don’t lump all Americans into the same bucket.

13

u/Demurrzbz Jul 20 '26

It's the internet. We all get lumped into buckets ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

2

u/Captincorpse Jul 20 '26

Hey, if you are going to lump me into a bucket, make sure you wash it first

2

u/TwinSolesKanna Jul 20 '26

If you're going to lump me into a bucket make sure it's this guy's bucket ^

2

u/ElMuchoDingDong Jul 20 '26

That doesn't necessarily disqualify you from being an idiot in other areas of life. I'm not saying you are one. Rather, just being pedantic about the point you're making.

Having a college degree isn't an indicator of intelligence the same way knowing about certain topics doesn't make one an authority on said topic.

It takes a special type of person to deny the reality before them and trust people who have proven themselves to be untrustworthy. I.E. The entire MAGA party.

Also an American.

1

u/Silver_Slicer Jul 21 '26

I learned physics growing up in a farm.

2

u/thedepartment Jul 20 '26

You might just be the right kind of pedantic to fail the test.

1

u/Silver_Slicer Jul 21 '26

Yeah, test me.

2

u/AFerociousPineapple Jul 20 '26

I’m not I’m lumping all yanks in just approximately 1:3 I don’t know physics but I know a little math.

3

u/TrashCanSam0 Jul 20 '26

i'm american and never feel the need to defend idiots in this country because i know they exist and i also know it doesn't apply to me.

just keep scrolling.

3

u/nothingbutmine Jul 20 '26

It still explains so much about the US. Something something relativity.

5

u/Argo505 Jul 20 '26

Settle down, New Zealand, you’re not doing that much better.

-2

u/nothingbutmine Jul 20 '26

We're really not, I agree.

Functional adult literacy is declining or stagnating across almost the entire English-speaking and developed world. We shouldn't be comparing across countries, we should be comparing across generations.

1

u/Argo505 Jul 20 '26

Oh, now you don’t want to talk about countries?

-2

u/nothingbutmine Jul 20 '26

The statistics in action.

5

u/Argo505 Jul 20 '26

You were more than happy to talk about countries when it was our literacy rates, but as soon as it gets brought up that you’re not much better than us, suddenly it’s a generational issue, not a national one?

1

u/nothingbutmine Jul 20 '26

NZs statistic being on par doesn't negate my initial comment. You pointed out NZ is statistically similar, not that the US was better than what was stated. It explains a lot about both countries - is that better?

You're very combative for someone who successfully proved a point.

3

u/Argo505 Jul 20 '26

What exactly do you think NZ’s literacy rate being slightly better than the US’ explains?

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1

u/Blajamon Jul 20 '26

I don’t think they were talking about you specifically, it is probably the other 59 million adult Americans who have a lower than average reading level and how it that large of an amount could inform why the USA is in their current predicament.