The Magician’s Trick: How Illiteracy and Outrage Feed America’s Political Illusion

“Men are so simple and so much creatures of habit that he who seeks to deceive will always find someone who will allow himself to be deceived.” - Niccolò Machiavelli

“Propaganda is to democracy what the bludgeon is to a totalitarian state.” - Noam Chomsky

About 54% of Americans are not proficient readers. Low political comprehension, reflected by civic knowledge, political tolerance, information-seeking behaviours, and participation such as voting, is highly correlated with low reading ability (general literacy), according to research.

The fabricated American blood feud between Republicans and Democrats is the biggest delusion of our time. The audience is kept captivated by the magician's grand deception. The spectacle of cable news, talking heads spitting venom, and online social media mob wars is not politics; rather, it is theatre, a distraction of fireworks meant to captivate our wondering minds in such political societal turbulence while the real performance happens offstage.

Power of elites knows that the most effective chains are not visible. People will never notice the hands tightening the noose if they keep the populace split, resentful, and growling at each other. We are given the drama of a Trump reality show of partisan war and the opium of outrage, and we misunderstand the atmosphere for substance because we are numb.

The harsh reality is that we share more with our neighbours, whose votes you hate, than with the corporate executive who controls the news cycle or the billionaire who finances both parties. These divisions are created, fuelled, and used as weapons to keep us from seeing the true enemies; the systems of power and wealth that take advantage of our rage while escaping criticism.