"The Human Cost of An Illiterate Society"- Jonathan Kozol

In Jonathan Kozol's "The Human Cost of An Illiterate Society"(1985), he talks about the many injustices that illiterate people in today's society encounter. He explains how these people are forced to just "go with the flow" for lack of a better phrase because they can't discern for themselves the right decisions. He brings up the fact the majority of these people can not vote, and the ones that do vote, vote for " a face, a smile, or a style, not for a mind or character or body of beliefs,"(93). They vote this way because they can not read, nor can they understand the candidates platform, thereby electing potentially the wrong candidate. The sad part about it is, that very few literate people, take the time out to assist those who do not understand. The literate take for granted the educations that they have receive, when there are so many other people in the USA who do anything for the chance to be even half as literate as they are. Instead of offering help, the literate pick on and judge those who aren't as educated them which has in turn deferred the illiterate for even asking for help or assistance out of embarrassment. Kozol's essay has really caused me to open my eyes. I knew there were illiterate people in the world, but I did not know however, that it went as deep as affecting these people's everyday lives. I don't know what I would do if I could not choose what I wanted to eat off of a restaurant menu or was forced to just go along with the majority because I didn't know any better. To know that there are women out there who have went in for a tubiligation and come out with a hysterectomy due to lack of knowledge of document signing is really upsetting. If only the possessed the skills to decipher what they were signing, they would have come out with the correct procedure being done. I found this essay quite informative and upsetting at the same time. I don't want to believe that this is the case in our country , but when the evidence is all around me...what really is left for me to say?

Until next time...........



-Francis P