Book Burning in America (1 Viewer)

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    Roofgardener

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    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    Doctor Seuss Enterprises has withdrawn six Dr Seuss books from sale, on the grounds that they where 'racially insensitive imagery'.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 ! :p

    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 ?
     
    Andrus said in another thread that there hasn't been so far. They all just have the exact same talking points and lack of evidence.
    Can you point to that thread?
     
    The NEA played a large part in their, their being the Seuss group...not sure of their name. The NEA recommended not publishing those books any longer because of the harm some of the pictures would do to young children. The 'harm' was racism. Not sure if there is any proof at all, ever, at all that these pictures caused any child to become a racist because of Dr. Seuss. It is almost comical to say, but yet here we are.
    While Seuss is problematic for children to read, I find it odd again that children would be encouraged to read "Jacob's New Dress", "I am Jazz" and "when Aiden Becomes a Brother" by the NEA. So, maybe it is not as 'free market' as many here claim.
    To me, it is clear there is a political/cultural push here. While not the government, those in power and seek to gather more power encourage cultural censorship.
     
    The NEA played a large part in their, their being the Seuss group...not sure of their name. The NEA recommended not publishing those books any longer because of the harm some of the pictures would do to young children. The 'harm' was racism. Not sure if there is any proof at all, ever, at all that these pictures caused any child to become a racist because of Dr. Seuss. It is almost comical to say, but yet here we are.
    While Seuss is problematic for children to read, I find it odd again that children would be encouraged to read "Jacob's New Dress", "I am Jazz" and "when Aiden Becomes a Brother" by the NEA. So, maybe it is not as 'free market' as many here claim.
    To me, it is clear there is a political/cultural push here. While not the government, those in power and seek to gather more power encourage cultural censorship.
    Do you agree that a child's mind is very open to suggestion? Do you believe that those images of yellow Chinnamen and African monkey-people are to made to paint the different ethnicities in a positive light?

    We encourage our children to read in order to grow their intellect so it would seem like a good idea for a company to make a decision that would remove possible harmful content from their publishing that's designed to foster growth. I find this whole argument by the right-wing media intellectually dishonest and most of the options shared here are, as well. There are countless things from the early 20th century that turned out to be harmful to a great many in this country, and that includes actual Laws that has since been thrown out. This fake outrage over a company deciding that they too, would like to improve their product is just another example of right-wing extremist's weak arse attempt to further divisions within our country.
     
    The NEA played a large part in their, their being the Seuss group...not sure of their name. The NEA recommended not publishing those books any longer because of the harm some of the pictures would do to young children. The 'harm' was racism. Not sure if there is any proof at all, ever, at all that these pictures caused any child to become a racist because of Dr. Seuss. It is almost comical to say, but yet here we are.
    While Seuss is problematic for children to read, I find it odd again that children would be encouraged to read "Jacob's New Dress", "I am Jazz" and "when Aiden Becomes a Brother" by the NEA. So, maybe it is not as 'free market' as many here claim.
    To me, it is clear there is a political/cultural push here. While not the government, those in power and seek to gather more power encourage cultural censorship.

    Where do you see that the NEA played a “large part” in the Seuss estate’s decision? I haven’t seen that statement, but I am not following this as closely as some.

    And I find your assertion that reason these pictures were recommended against was that children would become racist after viewing them completely off the mark. I think the reason was so that children of the groups portrayed in a stereotypical way wouldn’t be hurt by seeing those depictions.

    Seeing people like you depicted as looking like monkeys isn’t comical. At least to me.
     
    "It was OK before, so it can never change to not being OK." Things that were considered acceptable or tolerable clearly can change to being seen as unacceptable or intolerable

    Can I give you my ex-wife's email and you explain to her how this works? Thanks.
     
    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?
     
    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.
     
    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.
    So conservatives are mad that the culture is now saying that racist depictions of people of color is bad and we shouldn’t do it anymore. They want the culture where this is allowed and...encouraged?
     
    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.
    Who is doing the censoring?

    It looks like companies are reevaluating their own products and deciding to change imagery and text that has been steeped in historical racism. They don’t want those images to be a part of their company’s future.

    When a company reevaluates its products and decides to make changes to modernize with the times, that’s not censorship. That’s progress. No one is forcing these companies to do it. There was no Dr. Seuss boycott going on.

    In light of new information, they changed their minds.

    In light of new information, they changed their minds.
     
    So conservatives are mad that the culture is now saying that racist depictions of people of color is bad and we shouldn’t do it anymore. They want the culture where this is allowed and...encouraged?

    I don't think they've thought that far ahead. From what I gather, they are primarily motivated by fear. Fear that whites will end up persecuted. That there is going to be an unfettered mob mentality that will destroy everyone regardless of guilt, intent or effect.
     
    Yeah, it seems pretty obvious that some right wing media, especially Carlson but there are others, are actively playing on the fear for whites that once they are not firmly in the majority, they will be persecuted. In fact, they feel like they are already being persecuted, because that is what they’re being told.

    So, all real evidence to the contrary, they “feel” persecuted. It’s like some sort of cognitive dissonance.
     
    Yeah, it seems pretty obvious that some right wing media, especially Carlson but there are others, are actively playing on the fear for whites that once they are not firmly in the majority, they will be persecuted. In fact, they feel like they are already being persecuted, because that is what they’re being told.

    So, all real evidence to the contrary, they “feel” persecuted. It’s like some sort of cognitive dissonance.

    Well, historically minorities in this and most countries are not treated too great, so it's not like the fear is without some basis in reality.

    I would think the logical thing to do then, both from a moral and self-interested perspective, would be to create a better system for everyone while we have the chance.
     
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    That doesn’t seem to be the path chosen. Sadly.
     
    Also, there are some real examples of unfair persecutions of whites/men that are falsely accused of racism or rape or whatever. It absolutely does happen, but again, it seems to me the focus should be on setting up a fair process for minorities/women to share their experiences instead of just telling everyone that there are no problems (or they are all very minor, so just suck it up for now).
     
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    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.
    But isn't that the fabled "marketplace of ideas" extolled by Oliver Wendell Holmes?
     
    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.
    So we should bring back blackface? Cultures evolve and what was considered acceptable no longer is.
     

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