Agreed. For so many words in common usage, English spelling (vis-à-vis pronunciation) is aggressively misleading, deceptive, pain-inducing. In the grand scheme

Agreed. For so many words in common usage, English spelling (vis-à-vis pronunciation) is aggressively misleading, deceptive, pain-inducing. In the grand scheme of things, it's unfortunate that English lazily conquered the internet without any kind of preventive maintenance rooted in critical thinking. It's not nutty (maybe just futile) to argue that English desperately needs fixing. The distributed nature of English should be encouraging for experimentation. Most native English speakers just roll over and succumb to Stockholm Syndrome. Every would-be/aspiring spelling reformer has mentally composed a manifesto of righteousness.