Book burning revisited

[GuessTheAltAccount]

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/paren ... 8fa4adb383

Remember when there was an uproar over someone who made a big public spectacle of burning his own copy of the Qur'an? At least that was his to burn. Aren't the taxpayers whose money was taken from them to fund libraries at public schools at least entitled to a refund for the cost of the books that were burned? And when you consider that some of said taxpayers are no longer around to receive their refund, or to weigh in on whether they're okay with the books their tax dollars paid for being burned as long as the money is paid to their loved ones, is even a refund enough to make it ethical? People condemn this stuff, but condemn it more mildly than the Qu'ran one, when it should be the other way around.

As I seem to recall, at the time popular opinion, however split on Islam itself, seemed to be making book burning out to be an especially distasteful way to express your disapproval of a book. I disagree. I don't mind the act of book burning itself if it's your own book. The publisher's already got your money, dude. But shouldn't this be even worse? That book is no longer just a book. That is now public property that is being destroyed. Wouldn't that make it vandalism at the very least?

I also recall that popular opinion blamed "right-wing" ideology for why they thought it appropriate to burn books. But obviously it depends on the books. In this case it's pretty clear that they're not burning books in spite of their "left-wing" ideology, but partly because of it. So why associate book burning with "right-wing" ideology in particular?

[The Alma Mater]

It indeed seems like a hollow symbolic gesture. Those indigenous kids they murdered for instance will not magically spring back to life if one burns a few books.

[Czervenika]

As someone in the library sciences I wish I had more energy right now to properly contribute to this discussion. It has potential to be good. I'm just getting tired and close to bedtime.

[The Black Forrest]

Burning books is always a bad thing.

Even when the books have racism, discrimination and stereotypes. Burning the past doesn’t improve people. It aids in the creation of myth. Studying the follies of the past is the only way to improve.

[Haganham]

Burning books is always a bad thing.

Even when the books have racism, discrimination and stereotypes. Burning the past doesn’t improve people. It aids in the creation of myth. Studying the follies of the past is the only way to improve.

Indeed. Is is the most repellent ideas that are the most important to preserve, and understand. How else are we to identify those ideas in the future?

[Republic Of Ludwigsburg]

In India some fanatic burnt the Kama Sutra.

[Picairn]

Useless virtue signaling and a waste of paper, no less.

[The Alma Mater]

Burning books is always a bad thing.

It is a standard way to dispose of them in many places though. Libraries for instance will burn books nobody ever borrows nor wants to buy during sales to make room for others.

[The Black Forrest]

Burning books is always a bad thing.

It is a standard way to dispose of them in many places though. Libraries for instance will burn books nobody ever borrows nor wants to buy during sales to make room for others.

Why not recycle?

[Old Tyrannia]

"Where they have burned books, they will end in burning human beings." - Heinrich Heine

[Ifreann]

Useless virtue signaling and a waste of paper, no less.

They're using the ashes as fertiliser for trees.

[Vassenor]

Useless virtue signaling and a waste of paper, no less.

Maybe next time make a public show of pulping the books for recycling.

[Dakini]

Removing the books from library shelves seems reasonable, tbh.

I'm not sure how I feel about them being burnt, but they're not my books to burn (it's also not clear how many were burnt and how many were just recycled, with the limited information in the article, they could have burnt one or two books symbolically and recycled the rest). It's hard to donate library books as they're not usually in great condition so your options for retiring them are rather limited. I guess they could have used them for some arts and crafts projects instead?

[Kragholm Free States]

Book burners are enemies of humanity itself.

[Ifreann]

Book burners are enemies of humanity itself.

Seems to me it depends on what books they're burning and why.

[Kragholm Free States]

Book burners are enemies of humanity itself.

Seems to me it depends on what books they're burning and why.

Nah.

[Ifreann]

Seems to me it depends on what books they're burning and why.

Nah.

Ever see that stupid Day After Tomorrow movie? They're running away from the cold in a library at one point and need to light a fire to keep warm, and one dude flips about them burning books and destroying human cultural treasures during the apocalypse. So they burn copies of the tax code.

I don't know if I'd read them as enemies of humanity.

[Kragholm Free States]

Nah.

Ever see that stupid Day After Tomorrow movie? They're running away from the cold in a library at one point and need to light a fire to keep warm, and one dude flips about them burning books and destroying human cultural treasures during the apocalypse. So they burn copies of the tax code.

I don't know if I'd read them as enemies of humanity.

I don't know if fictional characters in a fictional scenario in, as you say, a stupid movie, really count.

[Grave_n_idle]

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/parenting/school-life/canadian-schools-under-fire-for-reconciliation-book-burning/news-story/7f83c6b893908b7df9d1cb8fa4adb383

Remember when there was an uproar over someone who made a big public spectacle of burning his own copy of the Qur'an? At least that was his to burn. Aren't the taxpayers whose money was taken from them to fund libraries at public schools at least entitled to a refund for the cost of the books that were burned? And when you consider that some of said taxpayers are no longer around to receive their refund, or to weigh in on whether they're okay with the books their tax dollars paid for being burned as long as the money is paid to their loved ones, is even a refund enough to make it ethical? People condemn this stuff, but condemn it more mildly than the Qu'ran one, when it should be the other way around.

As I seem to recall, at the time popular opinion, however split on Islam itself, seemed to be making book burning out to be an especially distasteful way to express your disapproval of a book. I disagree. I don't mind the act of book burning itself if it's your own book. The publisher's already got your money, dude. But shouldn't this be even worse? That book is no longer just a book. That is now public property that is being destroyed. Wouldn't that make it vandalism at the very least?

I also recall that popular opinion blamed "right-wing" ideology for why they thought it appropriate to burn books. But obviously it depends on the books. In this case it's pretty clear that they're not burning books in spite of their "left-wing" ideology, but partly because of it. So why associate book burning with "right-wing" ideology in particular?

One of these situations is a priest deliberately burning a Quran on the anniversary of 9/11 as a deliberate and calculated insult to the entire religion of Islam, and the other is what... a school destroying and/or recycling old books with controversial subject matter.

I don't feel like you accidentally misrepresented this.

[Lady Victory]

I support burning the Twilight Saga. Also 50 Shades of Grey.

[Ifreann]

Ever see that stupid Day After Tomorrow movie? They're running away from the cold in a library at one point and need to light a fire to keep warm, and one dude flips about them burning books and destroying human cultural treasures during the apocalypse. So they burn copies of the tax code.

I don't know if I'd read them as enemies of humanity.

I don't know if fictional characters in a fictional scenario in, as you say, a stupid movie, really count.

The movie is stupid, I was not misrepresenting it when I said they were running away from the cold, but it illustrates a possible scenario in which burning books might not be an unmitigated evil. An emergency situation in which people need to light a fire to survive. Would people in such a situation really be enemies of humanity if they burn books rather than die? Especially when those books are of no particular cultural import and are easily replaced? Probably not. So as I said, it depends what books one is burning and why.

Burning books to symbolically repudiate the racism within? If they're not the last surviving copies of the books in question or otherwise unique, it's a bit cringe, but hardly an attack on the human soul itself or anything like that.

[Grave_n_idle]

Seems to me it depends on what books they're burning and why.

Nah.

No?

So why has no one made a big fuss about the much bigger news story of East Lake County Library in Sorrento, Florida?

There's a movie waiting to be made, right there - a cabal of librarians getting together to create a fake library account (named after the alias of a character from Burn Notice) to bump the circulation of endangered books so that the library district wouldn't burn them?

Books get destroyed all the time. Let's not buy into this false equivalence garbage. Intent 100% matters.

[Kragholm Free States]

I don't know if fictional characters in a fictional scenario in, as you say, a stupid movie, really count.

The movie is stupid, I was not misrepresenting it when I said they were running away from the cold, but it illustrates a possible scenario in which burning books might not be an unmitigated evil. An emergency situation in which people need to light a fire to survive. Would people in such a situation really be enemies of humanity if they burn books rather than die? Especially when those books are of no particular cultural import and are easily replaced? Probably not. So as I said, it depends what books one is burning and why.

Burning books to symbolically repudiate the racism within? If they're not the last surviving copies of the books in question or otherwise unique, it's a bit cringe, but hardly an attack on the human soul itself or anything like that.

Very well, I shall amend my statement: Book burners, except in a survival situation where they need to start a fire and for some reason all they have is books, are enemies of humanity. That's fair enough. Politically motivated book burning, though, is unforgivable no matter the shade of politics involved.

Nah.

No?

So why has no one made a big fuss about the much bigger news story of East Lake County Library in Sorrento, Florida?

There's a movie waiting to be made, right there - a cabal of librarians getting together to create a fake library account (named after the alias of a character from Burn Notice) to bump the circulation of endangered books so that the library district wouldn't burn them?

Books get destroyed all the time. Let's not buy into this false equivalence garbage. Intent 100% matters.

I'm not sure why nobody's made a big fuss about it, but I'm glad the librarians decided to take action against the district burning those books - I really don't think lack of people reading a particular book warrants its destruction.

[Ifreann]

The movie is stupid, I was not misrepresenting it when I said they were running away from the cold, but it illustrates a possible scenario in which burning books might not be an unmitigated evil. An emergency situation in which people need to light a fire to survive. Would people in such a situation really be enemies of humanity if they burn books rather than die? Especially when those books are of no particular cultural import and are easily replaced? Probably not. So as I said, it depends what books one is burning and why.

Burning books to symbolically repudiate the racism within? If they're not the last surviving copies of the books in question or otherwise unique, it's a bit cringe, but hardly an attack on the human soul itself or anything like that.

Very well, I shall amend my statement: Book burners, except in a survival situation where they need to start a fire and for some reason all they have is books, are enemies of humanity. That's fair enough. Politically motivated book burning, though, is unforgivable no matter the shade of politics involved.

Why? What's so evil about this particular form of protest?

[Grave_n_idle]

I'm not sure why nobody's made a big fuss about it,

It was a fairly major news story because faking circulation can have all kinds of knock-on effects on federal funding, but it's not the right KIND of scandal to really break big.

By which, obviously, I mean it isn't political enough.

...but I'm glad the librarians decided to take action against the district burning those books - I really don't think lack of people reading a particular book warrants its destruction.

Libraries can't just keep an infinite stock of books, so books tend to be rotated out of stock if they are not 'circulated' within a reasonable period. Lots of areas, they will try to sell the books, but if no one buys them and they're not circulating, they are often destroyed. (Burned is common, so they don't end up illegally back in the market. Shredded is also a thing).