Literate meaning they can read and write does not make them literate in my mind. Literate means being drawn to learning and educating oneself and thinking and investigating and questioning and researching all for the goal of becoming more aware of what is out there.
Do you see any dead "head" fans spending hours in book stores or libraries reading THE CLASSICS and discussing them with anyone? Belong to book clubs for instance?
They read the propaganda and listen to the propaganda. Maybe they read HOW TO manuals about how to change the oil in your car or how to raise their kids. But how to think or discern or comprehend or grasp? Odds of that are?