OP-ED: Don’t Ban Things Just Because You Don’t Like Them · 6:21pm Apr 28th, 2022
This post has been on my mind for a few months now. Like others, it’s being written in advance for posting. But in a way I’m glad, because I’ve already written it once and retooled it. After some consideration, I think the best way to go with this post is to be short and sweet.
There’s been a real rash in the last decade or so of folks seeking to “remove” what they don’t like from the public sphere. Various methods are being used, from twitter mobs that go after creators to try and get them removed or banned from communities or positions, to the latest incarnation, which is to use politicians and laws to block or remove things simply because one disagrees with them.
I wish I were joking. Kentucky just passed a law that, as I understand it, gives state politicians ultimate say over all public library funds and what they go toward. The implication made by the supporters of the bill is that it will allow them to examine what books are on public library shelves or requested by readers and then block all library funding until the “problematic” titles are removed. A similar bill is being pushed in Idaho that would launch an investigation into public libraries of that state to find “problematic material” and remove it from the library (likely, from what I’ve gathered, along with punishments to the library and staff for offering such “problematic” literature).
Well said.
Perhaps the ones who promote book removal under this type of reasoning should take a look at one of the more recent instances of it. "Those who refuse to learn from history are doomed to repeat it".
https://youtu.be/oKYyWjaQ004
Sit cacas tempestas incipit
But, but... But they said something I don't like and it hurt my feeeeeeelings!
In related news that you probably didn't know about at the time of writing, the government is now attempting to create a "Board of Misinformation". Granted, they probably won't be able to do anything but lie about whatever thing is currently going on, but it's the first step towards giving the United States a legitimate Ministry of Truth. That should scare people on both sides of the political aisle.
The even more problematic part is it is being driven by what the US founders referred to as "The Tyranny of the Minority". And on the small off chance that someone thinks it, no this doesn't refer to ethnic/racial minorities. What this refers to is when a very small, but very, very loud and/or politically powerful group bullies the rest of the population into forced obedience. Many of the things mentioned in this OP-ED are not driven by genuine support, but by small groups bullying people into following them with threats of making them their next target if they don't. So in addition to the changes mentioned in this post, we need to help bring back the courage to stand up for one's self in these issues. We need a to take a look around and have a moment like the one at the end of "A Bug's Life". The ones pushing this foolishness may have more political/social strength than each of us individually, but we vastly outnumber them and they know it. Heck, the whole Elon Musk situation in the media can be traced back, at least at the ultimate endpoint, to just six individuals that owned 90% of the US media outlets. Just SIX people are essentially driving the rest of the population in this situation. For no other reason than they like playing at being kings in their little make believe castles, and fear anyone realizing they have no real power over them. That's the real reason this divisive "scorched earth" mentality is pushed. It keeps us to afraid and angry to realize they don't actually have any way to force us to think the way they want us to, and banding together to vote them out of their ivory towers so that they have to live like us "peasants". Or realizing that we don't have to give these celebrities and "influencers" the attention they so desperately crave, and leaving them forgotten and ignored.
So we might likely see the manga/anime "Library War" in real life?
i1.jpopasia.com/news/4/13005-y6cuhg3i7y.jpg
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I just re-watched that not too long ago. For such a silly concept the execution of it was really good, and it felt way more believable than the trappings of it's premise initially suggest. The concepts of militant suppression of ideas and governmental censorship aren't really new, and not only extant in fiction. Of course I'll have my 3d printer going brrr before the jackboots kick down my door for supporting Trump's policies.
Actually the 3d-printed gun community is pretty effective for resisting tyranny. I can't remember where exactly, but some group of freedom fighters in either Asia or Africa are using JStark's FGC-9 to fight against their country's dictatorship. With the increasing availability/affordability of tools for home manufacturing (things like CNC, 3d printing, lathes, drill presses, ect), it makes it almost impossible for a government to prevent citizens from building their own firearms. And remember that an armed populace is significantly harder to oppress than an unarmed populace.