The English language becomes a fear for those who cant read, and many times it is forced upon them to have to do things they are incapable of doing. This is impactful to our country when it comes to votes reflecting who will have the control of our country. For example, Kozol in his reading states: Illiterate citizens seldom vote. Those who do are forced to cast a vote of questionable worth. When we have over 6 million voters who are illiterate and arent casting votes based on the content of the person, they are electing, but the physical things it undermines democracy. Forcing or even allowing people who are unable to read and understand what they are voting for should not be allowed and something should be done. This is a life sentence and compromises the future of not only themselves, but those who surround them. Kozol was mentioning in his article about how President Ronald Reagan would not have even been president if the people voting for him understood his campaign and what it was about.
I do agree with Jonathan Kozols idea that illiteracy can under
mine our democracy, but I also disagree. This is because people are being voted in for their physical representation of themselves, but even salt looks like sugar. Having someone with this amount of power as a president does or a governor, it requires for us understand what we are signing our country away to. Even though I agree with this I feel like people who are unable to read are still capable of understanding. Media covers much of politics and explaining the campaigns like in the news, those are things people dont necessarily need to read, they can listen in. There is still some sort of connection between the personal understanding of the campaign through audio and their beliefs. For example, my grandmother doesnt know how to read or write, but understands things that are presented in the media very well. Like the recent presidential election in the Dominican Republic took place, she was very well informed of the standpoints of each person their campaign and what was the best for the county, not because the person was physically a good representative.