Remote elites often wonder, Why should an illiterate person want to learn to read and write? As if any parent could want their child to remain illiterate. But here are some reasons, in the form of costs and benefits.

Costs

Can you imagine not knowing your letters?

No sign indicates its directions: You are lost in the world, and blind to history, culture and public life.

You are powerless, exploited. Can you even escape from the literate? They can say anything, and tell you, It is Written! You fall subject to those who directly bargain your pay and conditions; what escape? With no escape, what leverage, what recourse? You become a slave in fact if not in law -- laws which anyway you cannot read and have no access to. Thus your grandparents and parents were bound; your children and grandchildren shall be bound, bound to these who live from your cheap labor, who may not care if you starve, who certainly will not starve before you, or even with you.

Illiteracy makes you much less valuable as an employee. You cannot read instructions or directions, so you are limited to simple tasks. Even as a delivery laborer you only have the routes you have been shown personally. The illiterates are forced to become the palanquin bearers, the house servants, the direct personal employees who require direct personal instructions to do their work. Are these not slaves?

Illiteracy binds you to a tiny travel distance. In a potentially unfriendly world, without reading signs or maps, how can you travel safely to new places? You might never find your way home!

When you want to contribute hard-won valuable knowledge to others, you write it down. Illiteracy prevents you from sharing, and them from learning this valuable knowledge after you are gone. Your culture makes no progress. Often the most important things the writers have learned in their lives, you cannot read.

Illiteracy limits, even minimizes, participation in the modern world.

How powerful is ignorance? How enormous is this mere lack or absence? Very.

Benefits

You are already reading this. You know the benefits of literacy.

But a teacher should be able to justify and motivate literacy. Here are some valuable use cases.

Money

When you can read and write, you get paid more, because you can do more.

It is said, "There are poor illiterate countries, and rich literate ones, but no poor literate countries or rich illiterate ones."

Settle your agreements by writing them down. Written agreements succeed.

"I agree to sell it tomorrow for a dollar, here's the written agreement, let's both sign it." Tomorrow, "Now I want two dollars". "No, the agreement is written, and you signed it!" "Okay then."

Write receipts for transactions and debts which everyone can read.

"Lend me a dollar."
"Yes but give me a receipt."
...
"You owe me two dollars."
"No, just one, read what is written!"

Conflict

A judge should write down the judgement of any conflict, so it can be read later.

Organization

Post a sign, to give news or directions to others. "Meet at 5pm!" gets your people organized together -- if everyone can read it!

Keep your culture, celebrate your people

Write down songs, and stories from the oldest people. Later, perform them by reading to the group. Celebrate those who solved parts of the puzzle; clap for the performers; celebrate the readers.

Read to your children and babies at bedtime. They will ask you for their favorite stories, and they will read them to their children and grandchildren, if you preserve them in writing. If you read to a child, that child will learn to read at four or five, and become like the sun with bright knowledge to share.

Praise those who learn. If they learn they can teach and then all can learn.

Preserve beautiful words as written poetry.

Write down what you learn from the wisest people, from the people who can speak empowering words of truth, the teachers. If you learn something, immediately write it down for others to learn after you. Writing is the way knowledge travels. Reading is the way to send knowledge.

Arrange Pen Pals with other groups, who may speak a closely related language. Some might later become husbands or wives of your people, they will want to write home.

Yes

Memory is imperfect; something is always being forgotten.

Just as humans always talk, there is always a reason also to write and to read, to keep forever exactly what you said or thought or agreed or paid or did.

Today begins your history, and the history of your people, if you learn to read and write.

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