(post by Dee) The more I think about our financial and real estate woes in America today, the more it hits me that this country’s problems run deeper than just Greenspan’s excessively low interest rates in the late 90s or lack of corporate governance. It’s the failure to keep up with the educational and industrial progress of the rest of the world that poses a much deeper problem. According to the articles from Live Science and National Center for Educational Statistics, some of our large states fare worse in literacy rates than a number of third-world countries! How did we get here? Let’s hope the “Obama effect” and rush towards green/sustainable, as well as dire need to reduce dependency on and trade deficit with China lead us to discover the next great engine of wealth for Americans, post-PC, post-internet, post-cell phone. Because real estate is also a business, and in the past 5 years millions of people forgot that, eventually turning a great and steady investment instrument, real property, into a shell of itself. Blame reality TV and “get-rich-quick” schemes tied to real estate for luring an ignorant and unsophisticated masses to invest in something that actually requires business sense.

“Live Science Reveals 14% Adult Illiteracy Rate in the U.S.As readers are snickering about Bushism use and even go online to vote for their favorite Bushisms, it appears that they fail to appreciate - or perhaps succeed to misunderestimate - the sheer number of American adults who are unable to read. While President Bush may have declared they “misunderestimated me,” at least he could read.

The Numbers Game of Illiteracy

The latest available figures of adult illiteracy are dated for the year 2003, some six years ago. They bear out that one of seven adults - a total of 32 million - lacks the basic skills that would allow them to read something as simple as a print ad, or something as complex as a ballot.

Following up with the National Center for Education Statistics, it appears that the State of California faces a 23% illiteracy rate. This is based on the 2003 adult population size of 26,029,840, and also includes those who could not be tested because of language barriers.

Los Angeles County evidenced 33% illiteracy alone, while smaller and wealthier Orange County still showed 26% of illiterate adults. Lowest California illiteracy rates were found in Marin, Nevada, El Dorado, and Placer Counties, all of which came in at 7%. The highest illiteracy rate was found in Imperial County with 41%.”

About ignorance… It’s been a while since we included a bad real estate picture here. Presenting to you some photographs used by a broker to market a client’s house. Are you kidding me? No joking, these were pulled straight out of one listing ad!!! Would you want to see this house?