Yes, we can (read)
#134
My Dear Friend of Democracy,
Today, just a photo.
I took it on 1 June 2024 at the famous Duchess Anna Amalia Library in Weimar, Germany.
A visit to a library reminds us of that literacy is probably the most important prerequisite for a democracy. Since democracy needs informed citizens.
Such potentially educated people are a relatively new phenomenon in human history. Literacy only became widespread with the Enlightenment, the European intellectual movement of the 17th and 18th.
The chart below from the admirable Our World in Data shows this development clearly:
✊ Perhaps there have never been better conditions to live in a functioning democracy.
Read you in Europe,
Johannes
PS: Interested in how the Enlightenment changed politics? Here is an easy to understand 15-minute read.
With the printing press and literacy in place we now have to talk about the ability to access, digest and evaluate the information on offer.
Critical thinking being the key word.
Every era has its challenges!