The only book they want people to have on their shelves is the Bible and they don't want them opening it.
this post was submitted on 01 Aug 2023
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It's for Thumping not for Reading!!!
No kidding huh.
Btw this is why they call everything a slippery slope. Because that's what they want to do. They slid right from banning books in libraries to banning books in stores. Pure projection.
School libraries -> public libraries -> book stores -> private homes
Parental rights start and stop within the household. I don't get why we need to have such a wide ban in schools and libraries. If you don't want your child to read something that's fine. But don't spoil the diversity of books and resources because you're so narrow minded...
If they're trying to protect children, these actions don't make sense. So it's possible these people are idiots. But I have trouble believing they're simply idiots, because idiots don't have a focused drive to act. They wouldn't bother to do this.
So if they're not idiots, then our first assumption is wrong. It's not about protecting children.
It's about hurting specific people. If you consider they're just trying to hurt specific groups of people they don't like, then all their actions become logical, and the focused drive to act is explained.
But I have trouble believing they’re simply idiots, because idiots don’t have a focused drive to act.
They're useful idiots.
Just to add to the conversation and be clear, this is book they want banned from children.
"-the novel tells the tragic story of Pecola Breedlove, an African American girl from an abusive home. Eleven-year-old Pecola equates beauty and social acceptance with whiteness; she therefore longs to have “the bluest eye.” "
A book about racism, written in the 1970's and set in the 1940's. It examines how white people and black people's lives were during those times and was inspired by the author's friend who, according to the author, loathed being black and wanted to be white. That's exactly why Arkansas wants it banned for children. They're terrified of people remembering the truth of our history and knowing how people are still racist today.
This isn’t new, just more obviously in the open. Go to your local library or bookstore and try to find Lenin’s “State and Revolution.” I tried. It’s not in stock. You may find a couple of books critical of capitalism, but that’s it. Meanwhile, Fucker Carlton and D’nice D’Souza are everywhere. It’s sad.
My public library has it. Both in print and a rentable eBook. We actually analyzed the writings of Lenin when I was in (public) grad school, too.
Maybe the difference is that my state isn't a conservative shithole?
Strange how you get used to the smell 👃. Then, someone like Stovetop comes along and reminds you that your neighbors probably would kill you if given the chance. It’s okay, there’s always Marxists.org.
Is it banned or just not in circulation because nobody reads it?
Probably because nobody reads it at the bookstore. At the library though, that’s by design.
Libraries cannot keep a copy of every book in existence. Not even vast libraries like the British Library or the Library of Congress can attempt that. I would guess that, in the U.S., State and Revolution is not especially widely read, so keeping it on the shelves makes no more sense than the time my librarian wife showed me a weeded book called something like "Getting Along with Jewish Neighbors" from the 1950s. It's well-meaning, it could teach ignorant people a lot, but no one in the 21st century is going to read it except as a curiosity.
It wasn’t just Lenin. It was recent authors too. Anything vaguely socialist/communist. I’m not saying it’s a conspiracy. I’m sure it has to do with interest. But if I was doing a research paper on that subject, it would be difficult.
I’m not saying it’s a conspiracy.
You did though.
You: This isn’t new, just more obviously in the open. Go to your local library or bookstore and try to find Lenin’s “State and Revolution.” I tried. It’s not in stock. You may find a couple of books critical of capitalism, but that’s it.
Me: Is it banned or just not in circulation because nobody reads it?
You: Probably because nobody reads it at the bookstore. At the library though, that’s by design.
[citation needed]
Yeah, libraries have limited shelf space so their inventory is at least partially driven by demand. They generally try to keep a mix of popular and scholarly works on hand. I can guarantee that if you're looking for a particular book and they don't have it that they can order it for you, it just might take a little while to be shipped from one of the locations that actually has a copy.
Libraries by me have plenty of shelves but not enough on the shelves. They wind up selling used books to try to make money for the library.
It's disappointing to go to a library and not see shelves filled and filled with books
I work in a library, and we're actually doing that on purpose. It turns out that circulation improves significantly if you weed out the copies that look dated and old. When people come to browse for books (not diehard readers, but more casual readers), they have a hard time finding books that peak their interest when they're surrounded by "junk," so they just don't get anything. It took me a bit to get used to, but I can't argue with the results. We've heavily weeded, got updated covers of classics, and keep up with current popular books, and they're flying off the shelves. As much as we say, "Don't judge a book by its cover," it's something most people do.
I mean, ok, but it sucks when the scifi section is one half of an aisle, and each shelf is only half full. I'm sure I could order it and have it show up later but thats inconvenient
Is your library genrefied?? But yeah it may just be an oversight on whoever orders books because they aren't familiar with the genre, and people who want to read scifi probably aren't requesting. I have to watch for that on biographies when I'm ordering because I don't personally read them, so I'm not as focused on buying new ones. For us, the most popular scifi books are also dystopian, but the hard scifi doesn't get any circulation.
Andy Weir is doing great things for the genre right now, which I think will help in the future! He writes in a very accessible, conversational, fun way that is engaging the general population with scifi. People who saw The Martian are reading Project Hail Mary and loving it! I'm excited to see what happens next!
Edit: I realized you may be talking about book store shelves instead. 🤦♀️
No - there's an inter library loan system so you can order a book and have it show up a bit later for you to check out. But kind of hard to do that if I don't know what I want to read.
For those that don't know, most libraries also offer an interlibrary loan option where a book that's not available at your location can be requested and mailed from anywhere in the country. The library pays for the postage. You may have to speak to a librarian to do so.
I think if they were sincere in their 'protect the kids' narrative they would be pushing for an age-rating system instead of outright bans. To be clear, they still wouldn't use such a system in good faith, but it certainly wouldn't be as blatant.
From Should I See by Frozen Ghost:
cover my eyes and ears
till it all disappears
how can you judge for me
what i should hear and see
you take away freedom of choice
take away the right to voice
my beliefs and and all my views
you take away my right to choose
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Good grief...I had no idea this monstrosity had become governor of a state. It makes sense that it's Arkansas... But still. Who the fuck takes one look at that beast and thinks, "There... That's the person I want in charge of the lives of those around me!". Honestly...If I saw this thing at dusk walking towards me on some street, I'd immediately cross both myself and said street out of fear of the eldritch horror streaming forth from it's eyes. Look at that face! Tell me it doesn't scream, "I eat souls and shit demons". Every day, I want so badly to buy a ship and sail into international waters, to avoid fuckwit shit bags like this douchecanoe having any say whatsoever in how I live my life. Fuck "her", and everyone who voted "her" into office. May the beyond accept you into it's dark and torturous embrace.
That just it- they don't think; they just push the button that says ( R ).
I know. I just hate that thing's face so much it spawned a rant.
It's all part of Republican's "small government" ideals, I guess! /s