From Robert A. Hall Jr's book, Leave Your Language Alone!:

The situation with respect to spelling is much the same as it is with regard to "correct" speech in our society. In each case, an irrational, meaningless standard is set up as a shibboleth for people to conform to, which in many instances puts a premium on lack of realism and on unnaturalness in speech or its representation. In particular, our society's emphasis on trhe irregularities of English spelling has brought many of us to a point where we cannot distinguish between speech and writing, and where we cannot even conceive sounds as existing distinct from and prior to letters. Consequently, anyone who goes through our schooling system has to waste years of his life in aquiring a wasteful, and, in the long run, damaging set of spelling habits, thus ultimately unfitting himself to understand the nature of language, and its function unless he puts in extra effort to rid himself of all the misconceptions and prejudices that our system has foisted on him. [pp.45f.]