talking points
Photo by Brytanni Bowden
There is a difference between dumb and stupid.
Dumb is usually something that’s been inflicted and it can be turned around. If you’re dumb about something it’s probably because you don’t know about it or you haven’t had a patient teacher. You might not turn into a genius but you’ll understand the basics: If you put your hand in fire you’ll get burned. Getting burned doesn’t feel too good so you won’t be doing that again. You’ve learned a lesson and now you know better.
Stupid is a choice. It’s an inability to learn. It’s the numbing option. It’s like putting your hand back in the fire after getting burned. It’s convincing someone else to do the same. It’s following the crowd into the smoker’s pit because you’ve noticed the pile. Stupidity is a mass grave.
Research shows that 66% of adults in Cleveland are functionally illiterate. Some neighborhood illiteracy rates are as high as 95%. This means that two-thirds of the adult population in Cleveland do not have the necessary literacy skills to function effectively in everyday situations. This includes reading, writing, and comprehension tasks required for daily living and employment. Culture Jock is based in Cleveland, Ohio and as residents we’re shocked. This is terrifying news.
Functional illiteracy can have profound impacts on a person’s ability to manage personal finances, understand health information, and participate fully in society. It robs them of a life. An illiterate population is a farmed population in which more than likely they’ll be vulnerable to crime-as either a victim or agent- a sure gateway to prison. And if you haven’t noticed the rise of micro-regimes aka “cop cities” then maybe it’s time to tune back into the news. You may be their next dummy.
In Ohio, House Bill 556 is a proposed law that looks like it came straight from a YA Science-Fiction novel. Ohio House Bill 556 proposes to create criminal liability for librarians and teachers for pandering obscenity. This bill aims to hold teachers and librarians accountable for pandering obscenity, however, there is no direct definition of obscenity. Violating these prohibitions will lead to a fifth-degree felony. Repeat offenses elevate it to a fourth-degree felony. This proposal follows a trend of policies across the nation-heavily seen in Florida, South Carolina and Texas-aimed to dismantle DEI initiatives, gender studies, sex education and the continuance of book bans. According to Pen America, between July and December 2022, instances of individual book bans occurred in 66 school districts in 21 states; 38% of banned books cover topics on health and wellbeing for students. Currently, Ohio has zero books banned.
From one dummy to another, I don’t want to be led by stupid anymore. The planet is burning up, water is disappearing, resources are getting low and the strategy is to go after the little libraries that have all the information we’ve gained so far that may inspire a mind to create a solution to get us out of this mess? Perhaps I am stupid to want better.
There is no deck of cards that can get us out of this one.
We must have really become slaves to convenience if we see it as an inconvenience to our time to pick up the phone call our local representatives and tell them to get our shit straight. I cannot believe I stressed so many years in school reading about historical events that they swore we evolved past just to see that everything is snowballing backwards. Last spring we watched students get popped in the mouth for speaking out against inhumane war tactics and their teachers get dragged down sidewalks for having the audacity to protect them. and now we’re asking librarians to keep their head down or it’s the pin for them. there’s something wrong with this image.
