Book Burning in America (1 Viewer)

[Roofgardener]

Well, OK.. not really.. no books have actually been BURN.. yet. But.....

Doctor Seuss Enterprises has withdrawn six Dr Seuss books from sale, on the grounds that they where 'racially insensitive imagery'.
Yup.. the Cat in the Hat was a White Nationalist Trumpist Quanon supporter all along !

Well, they have the legal right to do that. However, what happened NEXT is VERY interesting.
The value of those six books skyrocketed on Ebay. So Ebay finally responded by... delisting the books.
It is no longer possible to list any of the six books for sale in the USA. If you try more than once, your account can be penalised.

Now think about this. You can buy Mein Kampf, and The Protocols of the Elders of Zion on Ebay in the USA no problem.
But you aren't ALLOWED to buy "If I ran the zoo".

OK.. this is only six out of the many dozens of books by Dr Seuss.
At the moment.

Is it just me that finds this incredibly authoritarian ?

 

[SystemShock]

The controversy, IMO, is that it is a new form of cultural censorship. Big difference between government censorship but still very effective.
The government doesn't have too and actually cannot perform the censorship because it is all preformed by the left culture (yes, it is a culture war) that is why you have 'conservatives' not liking it and starting up a controversy.

You are trying way to hard to rationalize this into something it isn't. It is very ironic, you saying "conservatives" don't like it, when censorship and cancel culture have been a staple of "conservatives" since the beginning of time.

But then again, "conservatives" don't like it because anything that doesn't agree with the 1950's is a "culture war" waged by the communist/socialists/liberals/Democrats/hell spawn.

 

[V Chip]

This is closer to the decision to change the name Aunt Jemima. It was the company’s decision to repackage its product into a less offensive label. Here, Seuss enterprises is doing the same. You can still get Dr. Seuss (Green Eggs and Ham, etc.) just like you can get the syrup—only without the racism. You know. A good thing.

Why is this a controversy?

Because conservatives love to manufacture outrage and grievances.

Remember a few years back when conservatives hated Dr Seuss? When they wanted him cancelled and nobody to see the "communist propaganda" movie The Lorax?

Apparently they can't remember that, either. When a California school district actually banned a Dr Seuss book, where was this conservative outrage?

Oh yeah, they were mostly in favor of the ban.

 

[Roofgardener]

Roof, as already noted, your contention that this was not a business decision by both the Seuss estate and eBay isn’t proven to be true and is more likely to be false than true.

"These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong," Dr Seuss Enterprises said in a statement .
It said the decision was made after consulting experts and teachers.

Dr Seuss: Six books withdrawn over 'hurtful and wrong' imagery

The books contained racially insensitive imagery, says the body that preserves the author's legacy.

www.bbc.co.uk

It was not a business decision; it was a political/social decision.

Well, like I said, I'm not going to discuss this any further. I've made my point, and nobody here cares.

 

[samiam5211]

"These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong," Dr Seuss Enterprises said in a statement .
It said the decision was made after consulting experts and teachers.

Dr Seuss: Six books withdrawn over 'hurtful and wrong' imagery

The books contained racially insensitive imagery, says the body that preserves the author's legacy.

www.bbc.co.uk

It was not a business decision; it was a political/social decision.

Well, like I said, I'm not going to discuss this any further. I've made my point, and nobody here cares.

Every decision a corporation makes is a business decision.

 

[wardorican]

"These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong," Dr Seuss Enterprises said in a statement .
It said the decision was made after consulting experts and teachers.

Dr Seuss: Six books withdrawn over 'hurtful and wrong' imagery

The books contained racially insensitive imagery, says the body that preserves the author's legacy.

www.bbc.co.uk

It was not a business decision; it was a political/social decision.

Well, like I said, I'm not going to discuss this any further. I've made my point, and nobody here cares.

Why not both?

Sure, the National Educators of America gave feedback to Dr. Suess Enterprises. Then, I'd assume, DSE did a cost benefit / risk analysis and probably decided it wasn't much of an economic hit to listen to the teachers.

That same article also said that there was some blowback from the Cat in the Hat (however, it was non-specific), and the publisher is still publishing that one. Probably because it's a big money maker.

 

[Saintamaniac]

"These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong," Dr Seuss Enterprises said in a statement .
It said the decision was made after consulting experts and teachers.

Dr Seuss: Six books withdrawn over 'hurtful and wrong' imagery

The books contained racially insensitive imagery, says the body that preserves the author's legacy.

www.bbc.co.uk

It was not a business decision; it was a political/social decision.

Well, like I said, I'm not going to discuss this any further. I've made my point, and nobody here cares.

Are you sure this time because you said the same thing the last time yet here you are. Yes, you made your point. It was thoroughly examined, found to be completely without merit and summarily dismissed. It's not that no one cares; it's simply that your point was meritless.

 

[Farb]

You are trying way to hard to rationalize this into something it isn't. It is very ironic, you saying "conservatives" don't like it, when censorship and cancel culture have been a staple of "conservatives" since the beginning of time.

But then again, "conservatives" don't like it because anything that doesn't agree with the 1950's is a "culture war" waged by the communist/socialists/liberals/Democrats/hell spawn.

The thing is, I don't have to try. I don't have to provide sources because it is right there. Clear as day. There has been a rapid advance of the cancel culture in the last couple years. If you don't see it, it is because you chose not to see it or more than likely you support it. We all have are opinions and they differ. I am just not a fan of silencing the other view point like some.
There will be a swing in momentum because the left usually over reaches. IMO

 

[insidejob]

There has been a rapid advance of the cancel culture in the last couple years.

If it has been so rapid and has been clear as day, could you do me a solid and give me some examples of things that have been "canceled" over the past however long that you think shouldn't have been?

 

[Farb]

https://www.foxnews.com/us/california-usc-professor-removed-chinese-n-word

https://www.newsweek.com/racism-madison-high-school-teacher-fired-n-word-1466175

https://www.timesunion.com/news/art...ity-might-get-you-15553968.php#photo-19749884

https://nypost.com/2020/07/03/boeing-communications-boss-niel-golightly-resigns-over-article/

You can also use google. Use the search phrase "cancel culture 2020" you can even change the year up if you wish.

 

[brandon]

https://www.foxnews.com/us/california-usc-professor-removed-chinese-n-word

https://www.newsweek.com/racism-madison-high-school-teacher-fired-n-word-1466175

https://www.timesunion.com/news/art...ity-might-get-you-15553968.php#photo-19749884

https://nypost.com/2020/07/03/boeing-communications-boss-niel-golightly-resigns-over-article/

You can also use google. Use the search phrase "cancel culture 2020" you can even change the year up if you wish.

Hey, you're right, this Google thing IS easy!

All the Things You Can No Longer Buy if You’re a True MAGA Trump Fan

The free market has its limitations when you’re a Trump supporter. Here’s everything Trump and MAGA Country have boycotted in the last few years.

www.thedailybeast.com

A brief history of batshit conservative boycotts

Mutilating socks, burning disco records, shooting a newspaper with a gun: all surprisingly ineffective forms of objection.

theoutline.com

Conservatives are smashing Keurigs to defend Sean Hannity — here are the other brands that have incurred the wrath of the right

Keurig is feeling the wrath of conservatives — and it's far from the first brand to incur the anger of the right in the Trump era.

www.businessinsider.com

List of liberal progressive companies to boycott

List of liberal progressive companies to boycott

www.investingadvicewatchdog.com

 

[Saintamaniac]

Hey, you're right, this Google thing IS easy!

All the Things You Can No Longer Buy if You’re a True MAGA Trump Fan

The free market has its limitations when you’re a Trump supporter. Here’s everything Trump and MAGA Country have boycotted in the last few years.

www.thedailybeast.com

A brief history of batshit conservative boycotts

Mutilating socks, burning disco records, shooting a newspaper with a gun: all surprisingly ineffective forms of objection.

theoutline.com

Conservatives are smashing Keurigs to defend Sean Hannity — here are the other brands that have incurred the wrath of the right

Keurig is feeling the wrath of conservatives — and it's far from the first brand to incur the anger of the right in the Trump era.

www.businessinsider.com

List of liberal progressive companies to boycott

List of liberal progressive companies to boycott

www.investingadvicewatchdog.com

This is like shooting fish in a barrel. Of course republicans are guilty of the very thing they solely accuse others of doing.

 

[insidejob]

Can we please change the stupid thread title? Especially since the thread was created on the same day that instead of a book burning get together there was a mask burning party in Idaho or somewhere that has a thousand times the land than it doers people. When I first saw this thread when it was made, I apparently skimmed the title and thought it was about the mask burning since that was an actual real life thing that happened while this thread in real life is about a company deciding they don't want to keep selling their own products that they admit are racist (because it was acceptable at the time to think and act like that and even push it on your kids) because times have changed and the content is no longer acceptable. It never should have been acceptable but we don't live in lalaland. This country - hell, this entire planet - has a rather large and well documented racist history that is only starting to change in the last half century. Good for Dr. Seuss for not wanting to be exhibit A of how children were indoctrinated as racists at a very early age 2500 years from now.

And the whole ebay first amendment discussion is just lame. Roof, if you want to be American so bad, you should really try harder at learning how the application of the constitution applies to society. If they'd yanked these books for ANY other reason I seriously doubt there would be any outrage. I suppose it's better that they are making a statement with what they are doing rather than just covering it up by saying the books aren't turning a profit.

 

[insidejob]

Hey, you're right, this Google thing IS easy!

All the Things You Can No Longer Buy if You’re a True MAGA Trump Fan

The free market has its limitations when you’re a Trump supporter. Here’s everything Trump and MAGA Country have boycotted in the last few years.

www.thedailybeast.com

A brief history of batshit conservative boycotts

Mutilating socks, burning disco records, shooting a newspaper with a gun: all surprisingly ineffective forms of objection.

theoutline.com

Conservatives are smashing Keurigs to defend Sean Hannity — here are the other brands that have incurred the wrath of the right

Keurig is feeling the wrath of conservatives — and it's far from the first brand to incur the anger of the right in the Trump era.

www.businessinsider.com

List of liberal progressive companies to boycott

List of liberal progressive companies to boycott

www.investingadvicewatchdog.com

Well, that was pretty easy, it seems.

EDIT: Goodness gracious, to be hardcore in the Trump cult you'd pretty much have to be the biggest hippy ever. You can't go shopping anywhere, can't eat at lots of restaurants, can't buy clothes that aren't red and emblazoned with MAGA, can't like football anymore...I mean, were 74 million people growing their own food and only shoppping at thrift stores this whole time and I just didn't know? (I'd betcha a coke nobody did anything more than post about boycotting all of tose places and things on social media. Actually walking the talk and

Side note: Is there a single website out there that doesn't have some giant pop up for a newsletter, or ad, or message forcing you to turn off your bandwidth theft device to read the article, or (this is the one I hate the most) a video that auto-plays AND follows you down the screen as you scroll to get away from it?

The internet is getting super annoying with all that kind of stuff. Like, why the hell would I want to let Auto Zone know my location or give me push notifications? It's really getting annoying. They are going to have to create the bandwidth theft device blocker blocker (I think that'd be right) soon.

 

[RobF]

https://www.foxnews.com/us/california-usc-professor-removed-chinese-n-word

https://www.newsweek.com/racism-madison-high-school-teacher-fired-n-word-1466175

https://www.timesunion.com/news/art...ity-might-get-you-15553968.php#photo-19749884

https://nypost.com/2020/07/03/boeing-communications-boss-niel-golightly-resigns-over-article/

You can also use google. Use the search phrase "cancel culture 2020" you can even change the year up if you wish.

OK, I'll use Google. Let's see.

USC professor: never suspended, status never changed, cleared of any wrongdoing, not cancelled.

USC concludes professor’s controversial comments did not violate policy

USC's investigation of professor Gregory Patton concluded a few days after 3 student groups issued a statement criticizing the university's handling of the controversy.

www.uscannenbergmedia.com

Madison High School security guard: rehired, not cancelled.

Wisconsin school guard rehired after firing for repeating racial slur

Marlon Anderson said he told a disruptive student who called him the N-word not to use it, repeating the slur

www.theguardian.com

Skidmore professor: a little more contentious, since the students really didn't seem happy with his conduct beyond attending a Blue Lives Matter protest and a number of them chose to not take his classes, but ultimately, he also wasn't disciplined, and isn't cancelled.

Churchill: Skidmore professor won't be punished for curiosity

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Professor David Peterson says Skidmore College has decided not to...

www.timesunion.com

But Niel Golightly did indeed resign. You can debate that one. On the one hand you can argue he shouldn't have been for an article that old, on the other hand you can make a pretty solid case that Boeing could reasonably prefer a Chief Communications Officer who hadn't ever written a sexist article about women in the military that he himself called "embarrassingly wrong and offensive." He's also not exactly cancelled though. He appears to employed as an advisor and running his own LLC working with the Greater Houston Partnership chamber of commerce.

Overall, your examples of 'cancel culture' are examples of people sincerely calling for people to be investigated or have an action taken against them, it being reviewed, and then treated appropriately.

And this tends to be a theme. Every time someone goes, "Look at this terrible example of cancel culture," an awful lot of the time time it turns out it's either someone deservedly facing the consequences of their actions, or when you actually look at what happened, not much at all.

Very occasionally it's actually something egregious, but it's hard to take those few examples as reflecting the modern era uniquely, since witch hunts aren't exactly a new phenomenon.

 

[wardorican]

The thing is, I don't have to try. I don't have to provide sources because it is right there. Clear as day. There has been a rapid advance of the cancel culture in the last couple years. If you don't see it, it is because you chose not to see it or more than likely you support it. We all have are opinions and they differ. I am just not a fan of silencing the other view point like some.
There will be a swing in momentum because the left usually over reaches. IMO

Umm... Nike boycot after Kaepernick. Kaepernick basically being blacklisted from the NFL. Starbucks boycots after they changed the 'Christmas cup', Keurig's being destroyed, The Dixie Chicks basically being banned from country radio after their comments about GW Bush.

Do you remember the nonsense of "Freedom Fries", when Republicans decided they wouldn't call them French Fries, since France wouldn't join the US in the Iraq war?

Then, of course, Fox News fired one of their News Editors, because he was part of the decision desk to call Arizona for Biden earlier than the other news orgs. They were correct. Likely fired due to massive backlash from Conservatives who wanted him fired.

The fired Fox News editor who was part of the network's Arizona election call for Biden says he became the target of 'murderous rage' from viewers

Chris Stirewalt, a key player in Fox News' decision desk during 2020 election coverage, was fired last week.

www.businessinsider.com

But yeah, it's just Liberals.

Just face reality. Most people complain about all kinds of things. It's not a political ideology.

 

[samiam5211]

We also shouldn't forget how many conservatives pretend to not watch the NFL anymore.

Their real issue is that they can't actually cancel anything, because their boycotts don't make any difference.

 

[Farb]

Umm... Nike boycot after Kaepernick. Kaepernick basically being blacklisted from the NFL. Starbucks boycots after they changed the 'Christmas cup', Keurig's being destroyed, The Dixie Chicks basically being banned from country radio after their comments about GW Bush.

Do you remember the nonsense of "Freedom Fries", when Republicans decided they wouldn't call them French Fries, since France wouldn't join the US in the Iraq war?

Then, of course, Fox News fired one of their News Editors, because he was part of the decision desk to call Arizona for Biden earlier than the other news orgs. They were correct. Likely fired due to massive backlash from Conservatives who wanted him fired.

The fired Fox News editor who was part of the network's Arizona election call for Biden says he became the target of 'murderous rage' from viewers

Chris Stirewalt, a key player in Fox News' decision desk during 2020 election coverage, was fired last week.

www.businessinsider.com

But yeah, it's just Liberals.

Just face reality. Most people complain about all kinds of things. It's not a political ideology.

The thing is, I don't have to try. I don't have to provide sources because it is right there. Clear as day. There has been a rapid advance of the cancel culture in the last couple years. If you don't see it, it is because you chose not to see it or more than likely you support it. We all have our opinions and they differ. I am just not a fan of silencing the other view points like some.
There will be a swing in momentum because the left usually over reaches. IMO

 

[brandon]

What we're saying is that if there is such thing as "cancel culture", it's practiced by both sides (omg, I just said the thing!), but one side is practicing it while trying to reduce racism and discrimination, and the other side is practicing it while trying to keep racism and discrimination.

Which side are you on?