Fifty percent of people won't vote, and fifty percent don't read

Gore Vidal once wrote with his sharp wit and unflinching clarity: “Fifty percent of people won’t vote, and fifty percent don’t read newspapers. I hope it’s the same fifty percent.” Beneath the humor of this line lies a blade of truth — a truth about ignorance, power, and responsibility. Vidal, that brilliant critic of American politics and culture, wielded irony like a philosopher’s sword, exposing the decay that hides beneath the surface of democracy. In these words, he warns us that when the uninformed hold equal power with the wise, the foundation of a free society begins to tremble. It is not cynicism he offers, but a challenge: to awaken, to think, and to participate consciously in the destiny of one’s nation.

To understand his meaning, one must first know the man who spoke it. Gore Vidal, novelist, essayist, and intellectual warrior, lived during an age of upheaval — through wars, revolutions, and the rise of mass media. He watched as the citizens of a great republic grew increasingly distracted, lulled by entertainment, deceived by propaganda, and disconnected from truth. His words about voting and reading were not a jest at the people’s expense, but a lament for what democracy had become: a house where many have voices, but few have thought. To vote without understanding is to swing the sword of power blindfolded. To read without discernment, or worse, to not read at all, is to surrender one’s mind to darkness.

The ancients knew this danger well. Plato, in his Republic, warned that democracy without education degenerates into tyranny — for when the people no longer seek wisdom, they become prey to demagogues who promise everything and deliver nothing. Vidal’s wit reflects this ancient wisdom in modern form. His “fifty percent” is not merely a statistic; it is a mirror held up to the world, showing how easily liberty can rot when citizens cease to be informed. For ignorance is not merely the absence of knowledge — it is the surrender of responsibility. The man who does not think gives away his freedom, and the man who does not care gives away his power.

Consider the fall of the Roman Republic, that mighty experiment which, like our own, was founded on the voice of the people. As Rome grew rich and complacent, her citizens abandoned the duties of citizenship. They ceased to read the decrees of the Senate, ceased to question their leaders, ceased to understand the affairs of the state. Bread and circuses replaced debate and discipline. And so, the Republic that once stood for justice and virtue fell into the hands of emperors — rulers who promised security, and in return, demanded silence. The lesson of Rome is the lesson Vidal sought to remind us of: that freedom dies not by the sword, but by the slow poison of apathy.

Yet Vidal’s words are not without a glimmer of hope. When he says, “I hope it’s the same fifty percent,” he is not scorning the ignorant; he is wishing that the blind may not also steer the ship. It is a cry of reason in an age of noise — that those who neither read nor think might, at the very least, refrain from shaping the fate of others. It is a call to the rest of us — the thinkers, the readers, the seekers — to take up the burden of understanding, for the health of the world depends on the health of the mind. If half the people remain asleep, then let the waking half stand guard.

In truth, Vidal’s humor masks a moral command. He reminds us that democracy is not a gift, but a discipline. It requires effort — the effort to read, to question, to think for oneself. The man who reads learns not what to think, but how to think. The man who votes wisely does so not from passion, but from reason. To be an informed citizen is to be both student and guardian of freedom. Vidal’s quote is a warning against intellectual laziness — against the seductive ease of letting others decide what is true and what is right.

Let this then be your guiding principle: do not be among the sleeping fifty percent. Read deeply, not merely to know, but to understand. Question what you hear, especially when it flatters your beliefs. Engage in the world not as a spectator, but as a participant. Remember that your voice, your mind, your conscience — these are your sacred weapons in the defense of liberty. A people who read, who think, who vote with wisdom, cannot be enslaved; but a people who trade thought for comfort will always find chains waiting.

So when you hear Gore Vidal’s words — “Fifty percent of people won’t vote, and fifty percent don’t read newspapers. I hope it’s the same fifty percent” — take them not as a jest, but as a prophecy. The future belongs to those who awaken. Let your mind be your lamp, your reason your sword, and your curiosity your shield. For ignorance may be common, but wisdom is eternal — and it is through wisdom, not numbers, that the fate of the world is decided.