As a writer, that there are people who want to ban books from libraries has always baffled me. Is telling stories so dangerous that children need to be protected from our words and the worlds we describe? Is it our characters, our ideas, our images?
What exactly are they so afraid of?
The New Yorker currently has a piece by Katy Waldman that explores some of these questions.
About the people behind the more than 2,000 book bans in 32 states over the 12 months through last June, she writes: “In their vision of childhood—a green, sweet-smelling land invented by Victorians and untouched by violence, or discrimination, or death—white, straight, and cisgender characters are G-rated. All other characters, meanwhile, come with warning labels.”
It would seem that these frightened people are trying to protect their children from life as it actually is and replace it with a fantasy world that literally doesn’t exist.
But banning books that contradict their views seems doomed to help turn their fantasies into nightmares. In my experience, normal children know that life isn’t a fantasy anyway, whether they gain access to banned books or not. The main way most children seem to acquire information, frankly, is from each other.
Much of the information they eagerly exchange is accurate so far as it goes; much of it is also inaccurate, a bit wildly so. They get better informed over time with good educations. Given this, what impact does banning a few books have on their chances to turn out okay?
I suspect that a less-informed, more ignorant group of their peers, prevented from exposure to a wide range of writers, passes on more bad information than otherwise would be the case. And that we therefore inevitably end up with a relatively uninformed adult population, susceptible to manipulation by despots.
A population like that is perhaps more likely, for example, to fall for a would-be authoritarian leader who lies and incites them to commit acts like, say, the January 6th riot.
It seems to me we would all be much better off to encourage the widest possible range of readings to enrich our children’s fertile young minds. If we truly love them and believe in their ability to discern good from evil, we have to trust they will ultimately develop the good judgment to sort most of these things out on their own terms.
Then again, I’m a writer, so this is personal as well as professional. To me, banning books is an act of pure violence, much like a homicide. It is the cold-blooded murder of somebody’s words. And we all become somewhat less than we could be as a consequence of such a crime.
LINKS:
Atmospheric river brings more snow, rain and floods to California (BBC)
Missing From Biden’s Budget: His Plan for Social Security (NYT)
A Startling Document Predicted Jan. 6. Democrats Are Missing Its Other Warnings. (Politico)
NY prosecutors invite Trump to testify in hush money investigation; decision on charges could come soon (CNN)
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has reportedly indicated to Donald Trump’s legal team that he could face criminal charges over hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election. The former president has been offered the opportunity to testify before a grand jury next week, which would be an unusual step if prosecutors weren’t planning to proceed with charges. [HuffPost]
‘Spill’ of classified info derails Proud Boys trial (Politico)
White Supremacist Propaganda Soared Last Year, Report Finds (NYT)
COVID origins bill heads to Biden's desk (Axios)
House votes unanimously to declassify intelligence on origins of Covid pandemic, sending bill to Biden (CNBC)
Republicans push wave of bills that would bring homicide charges for abortion (Guardian)
The Republican Party's major offensive against transgender Americans is moving to Congress, where the GOP has control of the House. Hundreds of anti-trans bills have already been introduced in state legislatures, but their ascension to the federal level signals a new phase in which the conservative movement wants to make attacking transgender people a nationwide project. [HuffPost]
Chaos Inside Google as Execs Try to Figure Out How to Actually Use AI (Futurism)
We Programmed ChatGPT Into This Article. It’s Weird. (Atlantic)
How AI can save you time: 5 skills you no longer need to learn (Euronews)
The labor shortage is pushing American colleges into crisis, with the plunge in enrollment the worst ever recorded (Fortune)
Here’s Why the Economy Seems Weird (WSJ)
European bank shares tumbled in the wake of a dramatic sell-off in U.S. bank stocks amid spreading jitters about the sector's vulnerability to the rising cost of money. The global rout was prompted by Silicon Valley Bank, a major banking partner for the U.S. tech sector, being forced to raise fresh capital. (Reuters)
‘Extraordinary’ sighting of orca with baby pilot whale astounds scientists (Guardian)
UN leader Amina Mohamed: Taliban's restrictions on Afghan women 'have to be reversed' (ABC)
Archrivals Iran and Saudia Arabia agree to end years of hostilities in deal mediated by China (CNN)
The Biden administration has called for protecting mature US forests to slow climate change, but it’s still allowing them to be logged (The Conversation)
What we know — and still don’t — about the missing MH370 plane (WP)
German police: 8 dead in Jehovah’s Witnesses hall shooting (AP)
Still Too Early To Tell If Pulling Chain Turned Overhead Fan Off (The Onion)
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