Ancestors

Written by Cindy Weinstein on 2025-01-20 at 01:06

A must-read from @jeffjarvis. There's even data: "U.S. ranks 36th worldwide in literacy. The lack of education in the United States, the attack by the fascist right on the institutions of education, and the ignorance of too much of the public is what made them vulnerable to the siren call of #fascism, #Fox, and extremist right propaganda."

https://medium.com/whither-news/this-is-how-the-brokentimes-covers-the-fascist-oligarchy-b6b2c38e1178

[#]NYT

[#]MAGA

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Written by 🇨🇦🇩🇪🇨🇳张殿李🇨🇳🇩🇪🇨🇦 on 2025-01-20 at 01:18

@CindyWeinstein @jeffjarvis Wait, am I reading this right? Thirty-SIXTH!?

Damn! I thought all y'all were at least thirty-fifth!

(I know, it's no joking matter, but I'm kind of in shock here.)

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Written by Cindy Weinstein on 2025-01-20 at 01:21

@zdl @jeffjarvis

Yes, you read it right. There is a reason Trump likes the poorly educated and has nominated one of the co-founders of the World Wrestling Entertainment for head of the Department of Education.

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Written by 🇨🇦🇩🇪🇨🇳张殿李🇨🇳🇩🇪🇨🇦 on 2025-01-20 at 01:45

@CindyWeinstein @jeffjarvis It gets worse the deeper I read that article.

79% literacy rating!? Over a fifth of Americans can't read!?

That's worse than the worst number I would have come up with myself.

With Canada sitting at 99% and China at 96.8% despite its massive very recent handicap, I would have expected at least 90% for the USA (which itself would have been shockingly low for an industrial power).

79%? That's beyond the pale for even my cynical soul.

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Written by Cindy Weinstein on 2025-01-20 at 01:46

@zdl @jeffjarvis

As the piece explains, it's one big reason why we're in this colossal mess.

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Written by 🇨🇦🇩🇪🇨🇳张殿李🇨🇳🇩🇪🇨🇦 on 2025-01-20 at 01:50

@CindyWeinstein @jeffjarvis I really want to press that little star under your post, but "like" is not the right reaction for this suddenly-revealed (to me) shit-show.

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Toot

Written by Cindy Weinstein on 2025-01-20 at 01:52

@zdl @jeffjarvis

I know the feeling. Sometimes like just isn't right. Thanks for taking the time to write out why it's inadequate. Yeah. Your last hyphenated phrase hits the nail on the head.

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Descendants

Written by 🇨🇦🇩🇪🇨🇳张殿李🇨🇳🇩🇪🇨🇦 on 2025-01-20 at 02:01

@CindyWeinstein @jeffjarvis I think that the left is going to have to change tactics to make any headway in the USA given these numbers. Take a page from, of all things, the Cultural Revolution.

Stop trying to argue with cerebral points. Make snappy, emotive slogans that are easy to remember, easy to recite, and hard to counter with similarly snappy counter-slogans. I'm talking "two legs bad, four legs good"-grade sloganeering. Complex, philosophical arguments can literally not be understood.

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