My Two Cents - "Let them eat Cake"

2/23/2007

As is often the case, ideas for this column often arrive during the 11th hour and without warning. Tonight is no exception. During the dinner hour, I took the opportunity to watch a few minutes of television. There were two things I saw in the 10 or so minutes that were noteworthy; one was rather remarkable.

First, there was a piece on the evening news about the poor reading scores of graduating high school seniors. Only 73% read at a basic level. This was down from 80% in 1992. While the difference may not seem too extraordinary, it is part of a growing trend. The number of high school seniors reading at a proficient level also dropped during the same time period. While I am not sure what criteria are used to establish the labels 'basic' and 'proficient', I am reasonably sure that like most other government measures they greatly understate whatever the underlying malady happens to be; in this case the literacy of high school graduates.

The second piece was an advertisement run by AARP using children of various ages to open our eyes to the problems with Social Security, Medicare and pensions in general. While I do not spend much time in front of the tube, I am rather sure that these types of ads have not been running very long. I am even more certain that none of them made their debut during the Super Bowl. The fact that these groups are now opting to run television ads to educate the American public on issues with Social Security et al is almost laughable.

Amazingly, I think that these two phenomena are inextricably linked. I receive weekly communications from many folks around the USA and abroad raising questions, interjecting comments, and making general statements. One of the recurring themes is the general ignorance, particularly by younger generations, about anything related to the economy and financial matters. Many of the writers blame the decreasing cognitive abilities of the American Proletariat for the problems we have in this country. If this were true, then it would stand to reason that our education system is at least partly responsible. It would also seem that the general decrease in academic performance is only going to make these problems worse as fewer and fewer people will be able to gather information and comprehend what is happening.

During the course of the past several months, I have spent much time talking to people about issues regarding the economy and the condition of the American family's balance sheet. It has been alarming to see exactly how many people have absolutely no idea what is going on. Even worse is the general lack of desire to become literate on a subject that brings so much stress to bear on their everyday lives. If tonight's report is even close to accurate, not only is this disconnect not going to get better my friends, indeed, it is going to get much worse.

The bigger question becomes does society have a responsibility to impart knowledge and understanding? Clearly, the population of folks needing enlightenment is apt to continue to grow. If the average person has a difficult time comprehending the newspaper, how can we ever expect them to understand how inflation works? I tend to think that knowledge should be available for those who are wise enough to seek it. Those who aren't have exercised their right to remain in the dark. Information is power. To the seekers of it go the rewards. In the words of a good friend of mine, to the rest, I am resigned to say, "Let them eat cake".

Andy Sutton holds a MBA with Honors in Economics from Moravian College and is a member of Omicron Delta Epsilon International Honor Society in Economics. This article and other information is located at http://www.my2centsonline.com Please feel free to distribute, copy or otherwise disseminate this information.