Banned Books

One of the legacies of the George Bush Jr. years of the presidency is the "don't, can't, not allowed" mentality in the U.S. now. This reactionary ideology is not good for Democracy, but the Obama administration has picked up the ban ball and is following the course (albeit from a liberal rather than conservative angle). The book banners are back! Ugh! Yep, there is an organized and unorganized crusade in the U.S. to ban what is uncomfortable or politically correct. Groups form and march to remove from shelves of libraries, particularly high school libraries, those books that are alleged to be too vulgar, offensive to minority groups, promote idea that make some uncomfortable, or are against what is considered "truth".

I know of at least one group in Portland set up to oppose book banning, so the crusade is noticeable. I think the same mentality that has led Americans give up their freedoms in exchange for idiotic anti terrorism security measures that take away freedom in the name of security, is also driving the ban the book movements in the U.S. These kinds of reactionary attempts have always been around, but now many here don't seem to fight against them as much as before. It's mostly directed at books, but art is also being attacked by the banners. The freedom for adults to access information and express ideas, even if the information and ideas might be considered unorthodox or unpopular, is what a democracy is founded on.

But the banners want to "protect others' from what they see as unhealthy. The most outrageous book ban attempt I can recall was of the group that wanted to remove a book in a school library that allegedly did not show American Indians in a positive light. But it is not so surprising in this age of minority ineffability and majority guilt.

Most book banners are crazies who want to erase every sexual, violent or politically correct reference from books, but it is now becoming a more mainstream issue, as politicians like Sarah Palin crusade for greater censorship. Too, book banning eras are a reflection of general fear among the population of an area. There is a lot of fear in the U.S., partially thanks to Bush and company's exaggerated "war of terrorism" that has implanted negativism in the U.S. population.

What's strange about the book ban group is how they have left film alone. The simple G to X rating system Hollywood uses has seemingly satisfied ban advocates that the world is safe from unworthy movies. I have yet to hear any of them ask for a similar code system for literature. Would that satisfy the or even be possible? Regardless, it is unhealthy to have others control information content for adults. Self censorship is the only fool proof system for bans, but then, many of the people who advocate bans are the fools themselves and incapable of being satisfied with such a system. .