About Political Illiteracy
Political literacy is a set of abilities considered necessary for citizens to participate in a society's government. It includes an understanding of how government works and of the important issues facing society, as well as the critical thinking skills to evaluate different points of view. Many organizations interested in participatory democracy are concerned about political literacy.
Political illiteracy, of course, is the opposite of political literacy -- and it's having some pretty frightening effects on America these days. Schools teach sanitized and over-simplified versions of history and government in the hope of not offending anyone, and the mainstream media compress complex issues into sound bites. Furthermore, most politicians have learned that ten word answers and emotional tug-of-war are far more efficient than reasoned debate at winning support, and are in such a hurry to choose sides (and ask us to choose sides) that they are willing to support tangled thousand-page pieces of legislation that they haven't even read. Most people, meanwhile, are tired, cynical, and detached. The signal-to-noise ratio we get from our representatives and the mainstream media is horribly low, and continuing to dwindle.
The Political Illiteracy blog is my response to the friends and family who ask me about current events, and alternately gape in fascination or roll their eyes at the length and breadth of the argument they didn't hear in the evening news program. When I first passed my Open Letter On Health Care "Reform" around to be proofread, I was asked repeatedly why I don't do political blogging. I didn't have a good answer.
I'm not an expert or a pundit, an academic or an insider... I'm just someone who's fed up with the wharrgarbl and ready for a real debate. What's more, I want everyone to come to that debate armed with the best argument possible. It is only through challenging our beliefs that we can cull the wrongheaded ones and strengthen the right ones. So, in addition to talking about news and issues, I'll be touching on relevant history and the tools of debate. If I ever get good at this, I might make this fun to read while I'm at it. ;)
