this post was submitted on 10 Mar 2026
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I would also add that somewhere between 21% - 25% of the American population is functionally illiterate. This means that people can read short messages, texts and headlines if they focus, but are basically incapable of comprehending and internalizing written material more abstract or complicated than a meme or tweet.
The far-right MAGA conservatives who are ride-or-die with Trump no matter what happens also seem to line up pretty close to this percentage. I don't think anyone has done a direct study of a connection or even correlation, but I would put money on the bet that the Venn diagram is a perfect circle.
About a third of the illiterates in the US just don't speak English. They may be literate just fine in their native tongue, but that rate captures English literacy.
I'm not saying that that number is wrong per se but it would be better to see a curve based on age brackets
If for instance 25% of adults are over 90 then it wouldn't be surprising if they couldn't read properly. (Not saying that that's true, just as an example)