First: I'm not convinced that an illiterate can ever be capable of True Critical Thought (tm). To me, if you're going to evaluate an assertion logically, you need to be able to parse it more carefully than you can do if your language is purely oral. But I admit that that's hand-waving.
Second: I assert that it's vital for an informed citizen to be able to read the laws, to understand for himself what his representatives are doing. Most people don't do this often (I've done it probably fewer than 10 times in my life), but it's essential that the populace be able to, or they'll be much easier to fool.
(I suppose one could solve that by coming up with sort of non-textual format for legislation; but I'd be leery of such an effort. We have thousands of years of experience with examining written laws for loopholes; throwing that out the window in favor of video would be scary.)
Re: before someone is given the privilege
Second: I assert that it's vital for an informed citizen to be able to read the laws, to understand for himself what his representatives are doing. Most people don't do this often (I've done it probably fewer than 10 times in my life), but it's essential that the populace be able to, or they'll be much easier to fool.
(I suppose one could solve that by coming up with sort of non-textual format for legislation; but I'd be leery of such an effort. We have thousands of years of experience with examining written laws for loopholes; throwing that out the window in favor of video would be scary.)