A judge slapped a temporary hold on an Arkansas law that would criminalize librarians and bookstore owners for giving kids access to The Bluest Eye or something.
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.
I just want to throw this out for anyone who doesn't know:
LIBBY APP allows you to utilize multiple library cards to check out digital books and audiobooks from around the country. Many books that are not in circulation in certain places are easily accessible in others. I have two cards from within my state and find just about every book I need.
But keep fighting .. these websites and library apps are not safe. Don't forget Z-library and even the Internet Archive lost a huge case which makes theri archiving/digitising of books illegal .. They are attacking on all fronts. We can't become complacent thinking we have options. Soon, we won't.
I agree with your sentiment, but would ask that you reflect on how you are fighting it.
Vote, confront the opposition, protest... These are all options for fighting on a micro-scale. They all affect very little.
Run for office, get elected, write legislation. These are other ways to fight. But they are time consuming and a single platform candidate rarely gets elected. Still small scale.
So how do we fight?
We have to fight in the same way we fought reddits attempt to control its userbase. We have to jump ship and create a network of federated library databases which serve to make book bans impossible.
That in part is what Anna's archive is. It's a search engine of these databases.
The last refuge of this knowledge is within ourselves. You may or may not be a big reader. Idk. But you should begin reading in ernest to become a repository and deceminator of knowledge. Many people that say they are fighting, really mean complaining on the Internet void. They hardley read the books they say they are protecting. Do more than these people. Read, retain, disseminate, and fight in ways the people who want to take away your freedom don't understand. I guarantee you the people who want this are not computer litterate. Use their illiteracy against them. Fight on the macro scale with technology and reading.
That's all well and good, but we shouldn't get complacent about them trying to take books out of local places where access isn't limited to people with computers/smartphones.
Yeah, that's good info. But these people know they can't take the information from people that already know about it. They're trying to keep new people from learning about it.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Thanks for the info. I just thought it was odd that they had so few books available about a political economy that represented half the world for 70 years.
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.
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.