Even Greener Pastures

Your video seems spot on, a great explanation but I blame French most of all.  For a while French was the language of the Royal Court and the upper classes, for a longer while it was the mark of an educated man.

My father and one of his brothers did not go to school much, a lot of their schooling was exempted as they were helping my grandparents on the farm during the war.  My uncle could barely spell at all, my father read more so he was better at it.

When I went to school in the 70's it was drilled into us that spelling English correctly was the sign of an educated mind.  Kids who couldn't spell were supposedly doomed to digging ditches and pumping gas for the rest of their lives.  I believed that until as an adult I got a plumbing bill and a car repair bill from two of the "dumbest" kids in my high school.  I thought they were dumb because spelling education was very public, and you could see who did not do well at it.  And here they are as adults and still poor spellers (they had bad "penmanship" too!)- and they were doing fine!

The teachers lied to me!

English spelling should be cleaned up and fixed.  It is why I supported Esperanto.  Otherwise is elitist and a waste of education time.  Being able to spell English "properly" is a sign you were forced to memorize spelling lists every week as a child, and is not predictive of an active mind or adult success.