ktbr writes:

It benefits a government for its subjects to be ignorant, and if you can
control the educational system then you can insure a continued dumbing
down of society to a point that rebelion is less likely.

Yes. That's why widespread lack of education (particularly illiteracy, and
particularly among women) is seen in countries with high rates of corruption
and severely autocratic regimes.

Like piglets sucking on a hogs teats, the people can be placated in
various ways.

Bread and circuses. Many people care about little else, and will always vote
in favor of this. Even in Russia, there are people who pine for the old days
of the Soviet Union: sure, you didn't have much freedom, but you didn't really
have to work hard, you couldn't go broke, etc., because the state looked after
you.

There truly *should* be some sort of test before one can vote so as
to weed out the both the ignorant and the stupid people.

Yes, but unfortunately those tests invariably become corrupt, as they are used
to create a voting elite, rather than to assess competence to vote. The
problem is that the tests are usually imposed by the same people who are
elected by the voting, which is a conflict of interest.

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