"Is there really a secret society conspiracy to make the public illiterate?"
Maybe. The timing with the heyday of the Progressive movement that eventually resulted in the first _Dick and Jane and Their Running Dog Spot_ basal reader is extremely suspicious.
If they were sincere, they were _extremely_ shoddy, like depending on a study in the University of Chicago's school for children of its faculty, who will just pick up reading and likely phonics on their own.
They of course also hated the Christianity and morals of the McGuffey Readers, and probably their use of classics.
"And if not, why did anyone oppose phonics?"
One excuse is "drill and kill." But if you don't do that for phonemes and the math tables, the children will be crippled. And again, this is boring for the teachers.
Also see the above history, I'm sure it became a class thing. Also see how it would reduce competition for the children of the elites, which is _very_ overt nowadays, and especially so for white children and particularly boys.
https://search.brave.com/search?q=drill+and+kill
Sinistra delenda est.
npub13r…m3jlt
2026-10-22 20:41:33 UTC
in reply to nevent1q…axhm
Author Public Key
npub13rp7r4aglr7nlktkj0k4y3m2trxv0ulphu4pm7qv3w0vwnvzntjsvm3jltSeen on
wss://relay.momostr.pinkPublished at
2026-10-22 20:41:33 UTCEvent JSON
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"content": "\"Is there really a secret society conspiracy to make the public illiterate?\"\r\n\r\nMaybe. The timing with the heyday of the Progressive movement that eventually resulted in the first _Dick and Jane and Their Running Dog Spot_ basal reader is extremely suspicious.\r\n\r\nIf they were sincere, they were _extremely_ shoddy, like depending on a study in the University of Chicago's school for children of its faculty, who will just pick up reading and likely phonics on their own.\r\n\r\nThey of course also hated the Christianity and morals of the McGuffey Readers, and probably their use of classics.\r\n\r\n\"And if not, why did anyone oppose phonics?\"\r\n\r\nOne excuse is \"drill and kill.\" But if you don't do that for phonemes and the math tables, the children will be crippled. And again, this is boring for the teachers.\r\n\r\nAlso see the above history, I'm sure it became a class thing. Also see how it would reduce competition for the children of the elites, which is _very_ overt nowadays, and especially so for white children and particularly boys.\r\n\r\nhttps://search.brave.com/search?q=drill+and+kill",
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