Should books every be censored/banned?

[Salandriagado]

I do think that books can in some cases be restricted : not sold to underage, no advertising for them, or published with a mandatory warning (that's the case of Mein Kampf here : adults can buy it, but only adults, and there is a mandatory preface of one or two pages that explain what were the historical consequences of the book). But censored/banned ? No.

On what basis do you claim the right to control what people read?

[Xsyne]

No. Except for Fahrenheit 451. Until Bradbury stops trying to be this ultra super visionary genius and stops saying that it isn't about censorship at all, it's about television. Never mind all the stuff he said about it being about censorship in the past.

[Farnhamia]

No. Except for Fahrenheit 451. Until Bradbury stops trying to be this ultra super visionary genius and stops saying that it isn't about censorship at all, it's about television. Never mind all the stuff he said about it being about censorship in the past.

Ray Bradbury has never obtained a driver's license. Go figure.

[Konilid]

Well, I guess not.

[Sovereign Spirits]

I will not honor nor support any blanket censorship of any media or persons. So to the question, I answer: "No".

What individuals choose to censor for themselves or among themselves is not among my concerns. There are always ways around that, and they will be found.

[Johz]

I will not honor nor support any blanket censorship of any media or persons. So to the question, I answer: "No".

What individuals choose to censor for themselves or among themselves is not among my concerns. There are always ways around that, and they will be found.

What? So if you owned a large news center, and were asked to censor something for the sake of national security, what would you do?

[Farnhamia]

I will not honor nor support any blanket censorship of any media or persons. So to the question, I answer: "No".

What individuals choose to censor for themselves or among themselves is not among my concerns. There are always ways around that, and they will be found.

What? So if you owned a large news center, and were asked to censor something for the sake of national security, what would you do?

I'd ask to see the injunction.

[Johz]

What? So if you owned a large news center, and were asked to censor something for the sake of national security, what would you do?

I'd ask to see the injunction.

You've seen it. It says in big red letters "We trust you, and think that you're fairly reputable. Please don't publish the following information until we release it, as we fear there may be [some sort of danger] when it is released."

[Farnhamia]

I'd ask to see the injunction.

You've seen it. It says in big red letters "We trust you, and think that you're fairly reputable. Please don't publish the following information until we release it, as we fear there may be [some sort of danger] when it is released."

Unless it says, "Pursuant to USC whatever, you are hereby enjoined to not publish ..." (or however these things read), I would tell them to bugger off. And my lawyers would be all over it, too.

[Johz]

You've seen it. It says in big red letters "We trust you, and think that you're fairly reputable. Please don't publish the following information until we release it, as we fear there may be [some sort of danger] when it is released."

Unless it says, "Pursuant to USC whatever, you are hereby enjoined to not publish ..." (or however these things read), I would tell them to bugger off. And my lawyers would be all over it, too.

Bugger, you got me. You'll probably also have guessed that I'm not actually a millionaire business tycoon as well...

[Sidhae]

The best way to censor books is to ensure that people have no desire in reading them in the first place. Governments don't need intellectuals, they need specialists that only think outside the box as far as their profession is concerned.

Any reasonable government will take steps to ensure that their subjects aren't too smart and too interested in the alternatives to their system. It's called dumbing the society down. Ideally, a government would have a society capable of reading and understanding the text, but incapable of making any deeper conclusions, their minds simply too overwhelmed with the shallow trivialities artificially provided for them. Why should one take any interest in science outside one's profession when the magazines are bursting from articles about various mishaps of crackwhore trainwreck celebrities? Why should one bother to read "Mein Kampf" and understand what Adolph Hitler was trying to say, when all the abundance of war films has already made it clear he and his henchmen were mindless monsters who couldn't have anything sensible to say? Why should one care to read "Three Musketeers", when one can go to the cinema and SEE an "enhanced" version, which has more action, more special effects and more steaming sex than the original, and all that at the price of just a few bucks, without even having to exercise one's imagination.

That is the ultimate form of censorship - rather than burning, banning or censoring books, make people disinterested in reading them, reserving genuine literacy for the elite like it has always been.

[Farnhamia]

Dang, wrong thread.

[Canada Remnants]

Why this reminds me of the book burnings in Nazi Germany?

[Kemaliste]

No. (excluding the ones praising terrorism or certain terrorist organizations)

[Celephais]

Ah, yes, SUBTLE censorship.

It's still there, but NOBODY KNOWS ABOUT IT.

Yeah, it really annoyed me when I started reading Mein Kampf, to have this "Now don't go and form a genocidal national socialist government" preface treating me like a fucking child.

[Divair]

No. Absolutely no books should be censored or banned.

[Burkland]

Hell no! I mean I agree with banning Nazism but I wouldn't ban Mein Kampf or one of Hitler's speeches as they are educational to see the mind of Hitler. Same with any book or speech.

[Salandriagado]

No. (excluding the ones praising terrorism or certain terrorist organizations)

Why ban them? How else is the ideological gap to be closed? How else is the killing to be stopped? Don't fool yourself that you can bomb your way out of it, you are going to have to talk to these people in the end. How do you intend to do that if you don't know anything about them?

[CoolDayna]

I'm reading The Chocolate War in language class and it was banned in some schools because it promoted non - conformity.

[Kemaliste]

No. (excluding the ones praising terrorism or certain terrorist organizations)

Why ban them? How else is the ideological gap to be closed? How else is the killing to be stopped? Don't fool yourself that you can bomb your way out of it, you are going to have to talk to these people in the end. How do you intend to do that if you don't know anything about them?

You don't talk to terrorists. You destroy them. And their sympathizers (maybe not killing but at least they should be kept away from the public)

[Salandriagado]

Why ban them? How else is the ideological gap to be closed? How else is the killing to be stopped? Don't fool yourself that you can bomb your way out of it, you are going to have to talk to these people in the end. How do you intend to do that if you don't know anything about them?

You don't talk to terrorists. You destroy them. And their sympathizers (maybe not killing but at least they should be kept away from the public)

Yeah, that'll totally work, and totally not completely turn a large proportion of the world against you.

[Geniasis]

Maybe certain books shouldn't be made available to children in school, but public access to a book should never be prohibited. At the risk of sounding paranoid, silencing the voices of others only makes it more interesting to hear what they have to say.

Provide examples of books that you don't want to be available to children in schools, along with reasons why you want to restrict them, please.

The Anarchist Cookbook, for instance. What business would that book have in a school library?

[Salandriagado]

Provide examples of books that you don't want to be available to children in schools, along with reasons why you want to restrict them, please.

The Anarchist Cookbook, for instance. What business would that book have in a school library?

An interesting study on the methods. It was certainly in my high school library, as was Mein Kampf and the Communist Manifesto. I'm not aware of any of my classmates blowing things up.

[Xsyne]

Provide examples of books that you don't want to be available to children in schools, along with reasons why you want to restrict them, please.

The Anarchist Cookbook, for instance. What business would that book have in a school library?

Getting any would-be revolutionaries to blow themselves up. State's got a compelling interest in ensuring its continued existence.

[New Sapienta]

The best way to censor books is to ensure that people have no desire in reading them in the first place. Governments don't need intellectuals, they need specialists that only think outside the box as far as their profession is concerned.

Any reasonable government will take steps to ensure that their subjects aren't too smart and too interested in the alternatives to their system. It's called dumbing the society down. Ideally, a government would have a society capable of reading and understanding the text, but incapable of making any deeper conclusions, their minds simply too overwhelmed with the shallow trivialities artificially provided for them. Why should one take any interest in science outside one's profession when the magazines are bursting from articles about various mishaps of crackwhore trainwreck celebrities? Why should one bother to read "Mein Kampf" and understand what Adolph Hitler was trying to say, when all the abundance of war films has already made it clear he and his henchmen were mindless monsters who couldn't have anything sensible to say? Why should one care to read "Three Musketeers", when one can go to the cinema and SEE an "enhanced" version, which has more action, more special effects and more steaming sex than the original, and all that at the price of just a few bucks, without even having to exercise one's imagination.

That is the ultimate form of censorship - rather than burning, banning or censoring books, make people disinterested in reading them, reserving genuine literacy for the elite like it has always been.

Sounds like hell to me.

Fuck the elite.