Women “would have their uteruses removed when they turn over 30,” Naoki Hyakuta, leader of the Conservative Party of Japan, said in a stream on his YouTube channel on Friday.
On the channel, he also said that he would make it law for “women who are single after 25 years old not to be allowed to marry.”
(…)
Later, Hyakuta posted an apology on his X account. “I cannot deny that the expressions were too harsh,” he said. “I apologize for those who were offended.”
Here’s a real number. 56% of Americans read at or below a sixth grade reading level.
When complex topics like the economy are discussed, _at least _ 56% can’t comprehend the concepts because they lack the vocabulary. They do not understand how government works, or their own bodies, or diplomacy, or historical contexts. They are not capable of being part of many important national conversations.
Now couple this with the fact that Democrats are terrible at messaging and simplifying complex policy into digestible sound bites while Republicans have perfected it, and you can easily see how we get to where we are now.
My sincere apologies upfront for my next sentence: I do not fathom what 6th grade reading level entails. Not in the USofA nor in my little barbarian european country.
What I am aware is that children’s books and how they are taught to read is a diservice for them, with an overwhelming(ab)use of unnecessary images and infantilizing story telling.
This isn’t an argument to have children read “War and Peace” as a bed time story but kids could dispense with all the garbage being thrown at them (including school text books) and most parents happily buy them and instead having something that actually challenges intelectually.
And using a dictionary doesn’t hurt, unless you drop it on your toes.
In America they seem to prefer banning books that might cause some sort of empathy or critical thought.