There’s no such decline in consumption. There’s always been a horde of illiterate people among the lower classes because decoding written letters is a very abstract and complicated intellectual activity.

A few centuries ago, the illiteracy rate was way higher. But it’s always been mostly been niche activity for intelligent people, that’s why the school used to focus on training that skill

So? “Declining in consumption” doesn’t imply “legacy”, or even vice versa.