Too many writers? Not enough readers?

Are there too many writers competing for the same publication slots? What about readers? Who reads fiction or poetry? If you write fiction or poetry, do you read the literary magazines? Do you subscribe to any of them?

I visit a lot of writing forums on the Net, and it's appalling to see how many people are writing novels, short stories, poetry, and memoir, and yet...They never read anything in their genre of choice. If we don't read the work of our colleagues, how can we expect them to read ours?

Statistics show that reading is far down the list of popular leisure activities, but writing--as a hobby and as a profession--is growing.

Your thoughts? What can writers do to encourage people to read more?

For an interesting discussion related to this topic, visit the SpeakEasy at Poets&Writers. Log into the Fiction forum and look for the question, "Too many writers?"