Read Me If You Can

Read Me...If You Can...

Throughout my life there has been one thing that I have taken for granted everyday. Even now I am taking it for granted. We all are. This thing is not something you can touch or see. It is an ability that sixteen percent of people in the world live without. That is an estimated 1 040 883 228 people as of March 14, 2005. Can you guess what this ability that the other eighty four percent of the people take for granted?

Literacy. It has been a problem for society since the starting of languages. Illiteracy, which is defined by the inability to read or write a simple sentence in any language, will continue to haunt the world for many years to come. There are many reasons why there are a billion people in the world not able to read. But I think that the real question is are not the literates taking advantage of the talent. Are they lazy or just don't care? My most cherished ability is being able to read. I cannot imagine my life not being able to read. So what's stopping people from reading?

Books have been a major way to express ideas, ways of doing thing and beliefs in the modern world. People have been reading, gaining information, and ideas from books since the Diamond Sutra, which was first published in 868 AD, to the world-renowned book the Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. Now image that you cannot read these magnificent pieces of work; would you feel left out? Imagine you forgot all the information you ever learned in a book. How much would you know? Imagine how much more you could learn by reading a book once a month? Taking these examples into account do you think that it is fair to leave over a billion people in the world in the dark when it comes to history of countries, inventions and the rest of the information that can be found in books? How would you feel if you were being the one deprived of the world's accomplishments? All the information in the world is stored in books and other types of literature and the people who do have the privileged of reading don't even take advantage of this. The literate hold the world's information, not the illiterate, so do not let this talent go to waste.

According to CNN an American broadcasting station only forty seven percent of American adults read literature. That means that half of the population of the United States for America doesn't even use their ability to explore the wonders of civilization and the wealth of knowledge it holds. I find it really interesting that there are people in the world that would give anything to be able to read but then there are some of us who can read and don't take advantage of being literate. I think that if you are able to read but don't use this ability you are just as unfortunate as the guy beside you that can't even read this essay. We mite as well have let the illiterate person go to school for you and learn to read. Lets face reality, if you cannot

read you are considered not as superior as those who can. Well if you don't