Americans seem to behave as if they are not locked in a civilizational struggle with a malevolent adversary. Not even a Chinese spy balloon floating over the U.S. mainland and collecting intelligence from military sites could focus our attention on the threat for more than a fleeting moment. But the China-led Global East is rising with or without our acknowledgment.

The past year alone has seen Chinese President Xi Jinping boldly advance Chinese international priorities, which suggests that he no longer fears the consequences of bucking the U.S.-led West. Among other things, he’s brokered a detente between ancient rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran, entered the foray in Ukraine with deepening military ties to Russia, created distance between the U.S. and its European allies about Taiwan policy, and struck a unified pose with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who last week tweeted his intention for Brazil to work with China “to expand trade and balance world geopolitics” (emphasis mine).

Meanwhile, Americans appear uninterested in the implications of this international shift and consequently lack the urgency necessary to fend off the challenge. Headlines abound in the American press that must cause Xi to chuckle himself silly — especially reports that involve the ballooning failure of American education , particularly its inability to teach its students basic reading skills.

According to the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress , a jaw-dropping two-thirds of American fourth graders lack basic proficiency in reading. (To put this in perspective, imagine three American schoolchildren sitting beside one another in a classroom. Two of them can’t read.) In addition, a full 86% of 15-year-olds are unable to tell the difference between opinion and fact.

Put simply: The next generation will render Americans even more vulnerable to foreign psyops than we are at present, as well as less capable of competing with China in the global economy.

Meanwhile, Chinese students continue to set the global pace. According to the latest Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), which is an international test of 600,000 15-year-olds in 79 countries, China’s students lead the world in reading, math, and science skills. America lagged far behind in reading (13th) and even farther behind in math (36th) .

Beyond the tragic implications of our education failures on the next generation of Americans and their families, the eventuality that these children will be relied upon to resist the spread of Chinese techno-authoritarianism is harrowing. Successfully righting the literacy ship is not primarily a moral issue but an existential one; without a literate citizenry to defend national interests in an increasingly virtual and borderless world, the American way of life will almost certainly perish from the Earth.

Of course, this will be considered a welcome development by the overwhelmingly leftist professoriate in our university humanities departments that trains our education professionals, since, in their warped view, the U.S. is an inherently evil nation that represents the greatest global threat. These departments produce endless streams of teachers and administrators who prioritize leftist moral instruction through Social Emotional Learning programs over building basic skills. Suffice it to say, the purveyors of SEL are unlikely to be moved by the implications of childhood illiteracy on the U.S.-led global order. (Until, perhaps, they discover the state of LGBT affairs under Chinese Communist Party rule, as well as the government’s treatment of minorities.)

A healthy and functioning global power intent on maintaining its geostrategic position would emphasize the importance of education in its daily discourse. Whether the literacy crisis can be solved by reintroducing phonics instruction, promoting school choice, or by some other means, it demands serious and sustained attention. As we enter the 2024 presidential primary season, White House contenders would do well to feature the issue on their respective platforms. It would be difficult to imagine an issue more directly related to the fate of the free world.

Well, perhaps, except for this New York Times report from Wednesday that details China’s drastic expansion of its nuclear arsenal , which will elevate the country to the rank of nuclear superpower.

Are we paying attention yet?

Peter Laffin is a contributor at the Washington Examiner and the founder of Crush the College Essay. His work has also appeared in RealClearPolitics, the Catholic Thing, the National Catholic Register, and the American Spectator.