Paul Ryan could learn a lesson from the history of literacy rates in Turkey. During an appearance last weekend on “Fox News Sunday,” vice-presidential nominee Paul Ryan said that he did not have the time to go through the math of the Romney-Ryan tax plan.
“It would take me too long,” Ryan told Chris Wallace in the interview, giving Wallace a rare opportunity to make a coached Ryan seem exactly as he was: coached.
Liberals wasted no time pouncing on his quote, questioning the credentials of the conservative budget wunderkind.
Perhaps Ryan didn’t have the time to show the math right there on national television. But he should find an opportunity to “show the math,” in all its complicated, empirical beauty.
Ryan has earned a stellar reputation in Congress because he excels at explaining complicated numbers in a compelling manner, and he should not abandon one of his strongest aptitudes. He should break out the chalkboard for some old-fashioned schooling, the same way Kemal Atatürk did ninety years ago.
For those who missed the Western Heritage section on the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Kemal Atatürk was Turkey’s first President. In 1923, the new nation struggled to achieve economic and social relevance compared to its euraisan members. Atatürk responded by spearheading an aggressive modernization effort, focusing on addressing Turkey’s abysmal literacy rates.
Atatürk’s administration developed a modified Latin alphabet to replace the outdated Arabic script, and the president himself traveled throughout the country teaching it to his people. Standing before a chalkboard, he would explain to large crowds how to use this new alphabet, and why mastering it would forever improve the lives of the new Turks.
In less than two years, Turkey went from less than 10 percent literacy of Arabic to 70 percent literacy of Turkish, confirming Atatürk’s suspicions that the people of Turkey were hungry for economic and social development.
Ryan faces a similar choice with the mathematics of his tax plan. No other Republican in Congress is better qualified to walk through the complex math involved in the republican ticket’s tax plan. Ryan may be the most convincing voice to explain why embracing this would benefit the American people so significantly.
The “Path to Prosperity” web videos Ryan released explaining his Medicare proposals demonstrate the congressman’s ability to skillfully articulate difficult to understand issues in an appealing way. The Romney-Ryan tax plan could be similarly presented through a series of short “lessons,” in which Ryan would use the math to strengthen the case for Romney-Ryan’s election.
He could also take a play out of Obama’s 2008 campaign playbook by purchasing a one-hour block of airtime, devoting the program to mathematically justifying his case. Doing so would undoubtedly reach a larger base, while simultaneously undermining the democratic talking points so many conservatives say are distracting voters from the most important issue: the economic malaise of Obamanomics.
Hillsdale College, in its own way, has embraced similar forms of online education with its web classes on the Constitution. The success of that online course further illustrates what Atatürk learned with Turkey’s population: people looking to improve their lives want to be taught how to do so.
Ryan should follow this example, and show us why his plan will lead Americans to a path to prosperity.
