I’m a liberal democrat horrified by the current Dr Seuss drama and normalization of censorship

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I came to the US in the mid 80s, from communist China. People in the modern day have no conception of what it's like to experience the western culture for the first time, coming from a nearly perfect state of vacuum. Everything was new, vibrant, and amazing, including sliced bread and bologna.

Now throw on top of this, Dr Seuss books. It's like adding Mentos to a bottle of soda. I remember vividly pulling those books off the shelf at the local public library, which was mind blowing in and of itself. An air-conditioned building where everyone is polite and quiet, filled with books! A children's section, my gawd! What are these books, with cats, funny hats, strange words, what does it all mean?

Of all the books I read during those first few months of being in the US, the only ones I remember is my English text book, and Dr Seuss books. Maybe Dr Seuss books contain racially insensitive content, but to stop printing a volume because it talks about Chinese people using chopsticks? I imagine the 11-year-old me would have giggled at understanding that one reference, a moment of familiarity on and otherwise wild mental ride.

Read the article, it isn't the government taking this action. It is the company that holds the rights. This isn't the authoritarian communist state. Please.

You didn't read what I wrote. I only mentioned my home country as a contrast to the rich and vibrant culture I encountered in the US. Dr. Seuss books are representative of the unrestrained imaginations of a child's mind, immersed in the glimmering melting pot that is the United States, feeding off of its nutrients. Ironically, the same parents who pay $6 for a dozen of eggs from certified cage-free antibiotic-free grain-fed chickens want their kids to experience a literary world that is sterile, scrubbed of impurities, liberally sprayed with the pesticide of leftist conformity.

Notice I didn't blame the government for anything in the above.

Good news! There will still be tons of Dr. Seuss books in the library with the unrestrained imaginations of a child's mind on full display! And go buy whatever eggs you want, dude, although I don't quite get why that's relevant.

But now there will be less, and the book that's no longer printed contains an image that portrays a culture that I identify with, not because people like me complained, but because some people who don't understand my culture pressured the publisher to stop printing it. That vibrant world is now dimmer out of ignorance.

Ok. So go print your own book. Brighten up that culture!

I see you've conceded the point. You ought to be ashamed of being aligned with people who support destroying and erasing things because of your misinformed sensibilities.

So you're saying that people should not be advocating for things they believe in?

Honestly, I don't know why you have worked yourself up so much about this one book (that I, as an Asian, have never heard of). This is not the 80s; there are plenty more books out there that depict people of all sorts of cultures accurately, than there used to be. If you have a problem with others having a differing POV than you do, I'm afraid you're going to spend much of your life, outraged.

Where did I say that? Do you have reading comprehension problems? Sure, advocate all you want, I support that freedom. Just realize that you can be criticized for advocating the destruction and erasing of things, which is what I'm doing. Just because you have the freedom to do something doesn't mean you are free from criticisms for doing it.

We cannot justify an immoral action based on the obscurity and limits of its impact. The book in question is a contemporaneous illustration of the US understanding of Chinese culture. To the degree that *any* understanding of a culture is inaccurate and incomplete, to go beyond merely pointing out the inaccuracies and recommend for its removal altogether has no good justification beyond satisfying some personal desire on behalf of those who want to take their feelings to the US culture like a bat in a vase shop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I came to the US in the mid 80s, from communist China. People in the modern day have no conception of what it's like to experience the western culture for the first time, coming from a nearly perfect state of vacuum. Everything was new, vibrant, and amazing, including sliced bread and bologna.

Now throw on top of this, Dr Seuss books. It's like adding Mentos to a bottle of soda. I remember vividly pulling those books off the shelf at the local public library, which was mind blowing in and of itself. An air-conditioned building where everyone is polite and quiet, filled with books! A children's section, my gawd! What are these books, with cats, funny hats, strange words, what does it all mean?

Of all the books I read during those first few months of being in the US, the only ones I remember is my English text book, and Dr Seuss books. Maybe Dr Seuss books contain racially insensitive content, but to stop printing a volume because it talks about Chinese people using chopsticks? I imagine the 11-year-old me would have giggled at understanding that one reference, a moment of familiarity on and otherwise wild mental ride.

Read the article, it isn't the government taking this action. It is the company that holds the rights. This isn't the authoritarian communist state. Please.

You didn't read what I wrote. I only mentioned my home country as a contrast to the rich and vibrant culture I encountered in the US. Dr. Seuss books are representative of the unrestrained imaginations of a child's mind, immersed in the glimmering melting pot that is the United States, feeding off of its nutrients. Ironically, the same parents who pay $6 for a dozen of eggs from certified cage-free antibiotic-free grain-fed chickens want their kids to experience a literary world that is sterile, scrubbed of impurities, liberally sprayed with the pesticide of leftist conformity.

Notice I didn't blame the government for anything in the above.

Good news! There will still be tons of Dr. Seuss books in the library with the unrestrained imaginations of a child's mind on full display! And go buy whatever eggs you want, dude, although I don't quite get why that's relevant.

But now there will be less, and the book that's no longer printed contains an image that portrays a culture that I identify with, not because people like me complained, but because some people who don't understand my culture pressured the publisher to stop printing it. That vibrant world is now dimmer out of ignorance.

Ok. So go print your own book. Brighten up that culture!

I see you've conceded the point. You ought to be ashamed of being aligned with people who support destroying and erasing things because of your misinformed sensibilities.

So you're saying that people should not be advocating for things they believe in?

Honestly, I don't know why you have worked yourself up so much about this one book (that I, as an Asian, have never heard of). This is not the 80s; there are plenty more books out there that depict people of all sorts of cultures accurately, than there used to be. If you have a problem with others having a differing POV than you do, I'm afraid you're going to spend much of your life, outraged.

Where did I say that? Do you have reading comprehension problems? Sure, advocate all you want, I support that freedom. Just realize that you can be criticized for advocating the destruction and erasing of things, which is what I'm doing. Just because you have the freedom to do something doesn't mean you are free from criticisms for doing it.

We cannot justify an immoral action based on the obscurity and limits of its impact. The book in question is a contemporaneous illustration of the US understanding of Chinese culture. To the degree that *any* understanding of a culture is inaccurate and incomplete, to go beyond merely pointing out the inaccuracies and recommend for its removal altogether has no good justification beyond satisfying some personal desire on behalf of those who want to take their feelings to the US culture like a bat in a vase shop.

No one is removing it. They have just chosen not to publish it anymore. It’s a business decision.

[Anonymous]

If it's important to you, buy the rights and publish the d*mn book. No one is stopping you. You can give away a free box of Aunt Jemima pancake mix with your book.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand why Dr Suess but perhaps I have read his racist books.

I’m stunned that Babar is still around. I bought it for my kids because I loved it as a kid. But holy colonialism!! The images 🤭.

Yeah, we specifically never bought it for that reason.

I totally forgot about those illustrations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Y'all do know the religious right has been doing this same sort of thing for decades?

Apparently it was good then but "bad" now that "the left" is doing it. Amazing.

Right! Catcher in the Rye seems to really gets them worked up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I came to the US in the mid 80s, from communist China. People in the modern day have no conception of what it's like to experience the western culture for the first time, coming from a nearly perfect state of vacuum. Everything was new, vibrant, and amazing, including sliced bread and bologna.

Now throw on top of this, Dr Seuss books. It's like adding Mentos to a bottle of soda. I remember vividly pulling those books off the shelf at the local public library, which was mind blowing in and of itself. An air-conditioned building where everyone is polite and quiet, filled with books! A children's section, my gawd! What are these books, with cats, funny hats, strange words, what does it all mean?

Of all the books I read during those first few months of being in the US, the only ones I remember is my English text book, and Dr Seuss books. Maybe Dr Seuss books contain racially insensitive content, but to stop printing a volume because it talks about Chinese people using chopsticks? I imagine the 11-year-old me would have giggled at understanding that one reference, a moment of familiarity on and otherwise wild mental ride.

Read the article, it isn't the government taking this action. It is the company that holds the rights. This isn't the authoritarian communist state. Please.

You didn't read what I wrote. I only mentioned my home country as a contrast to the rich and vibrant culture I encountered in the US. Dr. Seuss books are representative of the unrestrained imaginations of a child's mind, immersed in the glimmering melting pot that is the United States, feeding off of its nutrients. Ironically, the same parents who pay $6 for a dozen of eggs from certified cage-free antibiotic-free grain-fed chickens want their kids to experience a literary world that is sterile, scrubbed of impurities, liberally sprayed with the pesticide of leftist conformity.

Notice I didn't blame the government for anything in the above.

You're far down the propaganda rabbit hole with this kind of stereotyping. You see yourself an enlightened thinker, but you're not. You resolve your trauma by swinging hard to the opposite side of the ideological spectrum. You're not the first - or last - immigrant to experience this. Your kids will be more balanced.

Wow, wanting certain Dr Seuss books to remain in print is the "opposite side of the ideological spectrum?" Right, your views on this are so balanced.

Yes, actually. The Dr. Seuss foundation decided, on their own and consulting with experts, to stop printing one of their books. Only the far right takes that kind of fact pattern and twists it into a Culture War.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I came to the US in the mid 80s, from communist China. People in the modern day have no conception of what it's like to experience the western culture for the first time, coming from a nearly perfect state of vacuum. Everything was new, vibrant, and amazing, including sliced bread and bologna.

Now throw on top of this, Dr Seuss books. It's like adding Mentos to a bottle of soda. I remember vividly pulling those books off the shelf at the local public library, which was mind blowing in and of itself. An air-conditioned building where everyone is polite and quiet, filled with books! A children's section, my gawd! What are these books, with cats, funny hats, strange words, what does it all mean?

Of all the books I read during those first few months of being in the US, the only ones I remember is my English text book, and Dr Seuss books. Maybe Dr Seuss books contain racially insensitive content, but to stop printing a volume because it talks about Chinese people using chopsticks? I imagine the 11-year-old me would have giggled at understanding that one reference, a moment of familiarity on and otherwise wild mental ride.

Read the article, it isn't the government taking this action. It is the company that holds the rights. This isn't the authoritarian communist state. Please.

You didn't read what I wrote. I only mentioned my home country as a contrast to the rich and vibrant culture I encountered in the US. Dr. Seuss books are representative of the unrestrained imaginations of a child's mind, immersed in the glimmering melting pot that is the United States, feeding off of its nutrients. Ironically, the same parents who pay $6 for a dozen of eggs from certified cage-free antibiotic-free grain-fed chickens want their kids to experience a literary world that is sterile, scrubbed of impurities, liberally sprayed with the pesticide of leftist conformity.

Notice I didn't blame the government for anything in the above.

You're far down the propaganda rabbit hole with this kind of stereotyping. You see yourself an enlightened thinker, but you're not. You resolve your trauma by swinging hard to the opposite side of the ideological spectrum. You're not the first - or last - immigrant to experience this. Your kids will be more balanced.

Wow, wanting certain Dr Seuss books to remain in print is the "opposite side of the ideological spectrum?" Right, your views on this are so balanced.

The scorn you heaped upon parents who buy $6 eggs and apparently want their children to experience a sterile literary world "sprayed with the pesticide of leftist conformity" gives away your hatred. You might be able to fool some people, but your shtick is pretty transparent.

Pointing out hypocritical behavior is the "opposite side of the ideological spectrum?" I don't hate anyone, you are just projecting.

What hypocrisy? Some people are lucky enough to have disposable income and they choose to support companies that don't use antibiotics in feed. Therefore...books? I don't get it.

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry your racist children's literature is no longer in print. I'm sure you can find a way to reproduce the book with a home printer and binder so you can pass it down for generations to come. You can make it a family heirloom. We can and must preserve racist America forever! No publisher should ever be allowed to stop publishing their past works. Books should never fall out of print...we should make it against the law!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I came to the US in the mid 80s, from communist China. People in the modern day have no conception of what it's like to experience the western culture for the first time, coming from a nearly perfect state of vacuum. Everything was new, vibrant, and amazing, including sliced bread and bologna.

Now throw on top of this, Dr Seuss books. It's like adding Mentos to a bottle of soda. I remember vividly pulling those books off the shelf at the local public library, which was mind blowing in and of itself. An air-conditioned building where everyone is polite and quiet, filled with books! A children's section, my gawd! What are these books, with cats, funny hats, strange words, what does it all mean?

Of all the books I read during those first few months of being in the US, the only ones I remember is my English text book, and Dr Seuss books. Maybe Dr Seuss books contain racially insensitive content, but to stop printing a volume because it talks about Chinese people using chopsticks? I imagine the 11-year-old me would have giggled at understanding that one reference, a moment of familiarity on and otherwise wild mental ride.

Read the article, it isn't the government taking this action. It is the company that holds the rights. This isn't the authoritarian communist state. Please.

You didn't read what I wrote. I only mentioned my home country as a contrast to the rich and vibrant culture I encountered in the US. Dr. Seuss books are representative of the unrestrained imaginations of a child's mind, immersed in the glimmering melting pot that is the United States, feeding off of its nutrients. Ironically, the same parents who pay $6 for a dozen of eggs from certified cage-free antibiotic-free grain-fed chickens want their kids to experience a literary world that is sterile, scrubbed of impurities, liberally sprayed with the pesticide of leftist conformity.

Notice I didn't blame the government for anything in the above.

You're far down the propaganda rabbit hole with this kind of stereotyping. You see yourself an enlightened thinker, but you're not. You resolve your trauma by swinging hard to the opposite side of the ideological spectrum. You're not the first - or last - immigrant to experience this. Your kids will be more balanced.

Wow, wanting certain Dr Seuss books to remain in print is the "opposite side of the ideological spectrum?" Right, your views on this are so balanced.

The scorn you heaped upon parents who buy $6 eggs and apparently want their children to experience a sterile literary world "sprayed with the pesticide of leftist conformity" gives away your hatred. You might be able to fool some people, but your shtick is pretty transparent.

Pointing out hypocritical behavior is the "opposite side of the ideological spectrum?" I don't hate anyone, you are just projecting.

What hypocrisy? Some people are lucky enough to have disposable income and they choose to support companies that don't use antibiotics in feed. Therefore...books? I don't get it.

Right, people engaging in hypocritical behavior or approve of it typically don't see the hypocrisy.

[Anonymous]

I wonder how OP feels now that this has been so thoroughly hashed out for the dumb nothingburger that it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I came to the US in the mid 80s, from communist China. People in the modern day have no conception of what it's like to experience the western culture for the first time, coming from a nearly perfect state of vacuum. Everything was new, vibrant, and amazing, including sliced bread and bologna.

Now throw on top of this, Dr Seuss books. It's like adding Mentos to a bottle of soda. I remember vividly pulling those books off the shelf at the local public library, which was mind blowing in and of itself. An air-conditioned building where everyone is polite and quiet, filled with books! A children's section, my gawd! What are these books, with cats, funny hats, strange words, what does it all mean?

Of all the books I read during those first few months of being in the US, the only ones I remember is my English text book, and Dr Seuss books. Maybe Dr Seuss books contain racially insensitive content, but to stop printing a volume because it talks about Chinese people using chopsticks? I imagine the 11-year-old me would have giggled at understanding that one reference, a moment of familiarity on and otherwise wild mental ride.

Read the article, it isn't the government taking this action. It is the company that holds the rights. This isn't the authoritarian communist state. Please.

You didn't read what I wrote. I only mentioned my home country as a contrast to the rich and vibrant culture I encountered in the US. Dr. Seuss books are representative of the unrestrained imaginations of a child's mind, immersed in the glimmering melting pot that is the United States, feeding off of its nutrients. Ironically, the same parents who pay $6 for a dozen of eggs from certified cage-free antibiotic-free grain-fed chickens want their kids to experience a literary world that is sterile, scrubbed of impurities, liberally sprayed with the pesticide of leftist conformity.

Notice I didn't blame the government for anything in the above.

Good news! There will still be tons of Dr. Seuss books in the library with the unrestrained imaginations of a child's mind on full display! And go buy whatever eggs you want, dude, although I don't quite get why that's relevant.

But now there will be less, and the book that's no longer printed contains an image that portrays a culture that I identify with, not because people like me complained, but because some people who don't understand my culture pressured the publisher to stop printing it. That vibrant world is now dimmer out of ignorance.

Ok. So go print your own book. Brighten up that culture!

I see you've conceded the point. You ought to be ashamed of being aligned with people who support destroying and erasing things because of your misinformed sensibilities.

So you're saying that people should not be advocating for things they believe in?

Honestly, I don't know why you have worked yourself up so much about this one book (that I, as an Asian, have never heard of). This is not the 80s; there are plenty more books out there that depict people of all sorts of cultures accurately, than there used to be. If you have a problem with others having a differing POV than you do, I'm afraid you're going to spend much of your life, outraged.

Where did I say that? Do you have reading comprehension problems? Sure, advocate all you want, I support that freedom. Just realize that you can be criticized for advocating the destruction and erasing of things, which is what I'm doing. Just because you have the freedom to do something doesn't mean you are free from criticisms for doing it.

We cannot justify an immoral action based on the obscurity and limits of its impact. The book in question is a contemporaneous illustration of the US understanding of Chinese culture. To the degree that *any* understanding of a culture is inaccurate and incomplete, to go beyond merely pointing out the inaccuracies and recommend for its removal altogether has no good justification beyond satisfying some personal desire on behalf of those who want to take their feelings to the US culture like a bat in a vase shop.

well, if the modern US understanding of Chinese or African culture is depicting three happy Asian looking types (with all the stereotypes) carrying the white guy on their shoulders or a colonial view of two black people naked but for a small straw skirt, big rings around their nose like cows and big empty eyes, maybe is not that bad if we start leaving that behind and stop feeding toddlers this crap. as others have said, I had never heard of these books before this morning and I have several Dr Seuss books at home for my kids. so it does not look surprising that the company decided not to publish them anymore, it looks like they were not selling them anyway. and again, this is a business decision of a private company. if you believe that the government should intervene and force the company to sell those books again, then start a campaign, call you senator and so on

[Anonymous]

If you're actually concerned with the power of activists and corporations to take a book out of print, it seems like you'd focus on reforming copyright law so that anyone can print these books if people want them.

[Anonymous]

OP and other conservatives on this thread, what do you want the government to do about this situation? So far none of you have offered ideas toward that end.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I came to the US in the mid 80s, from communist China. People in the modern day have no conception of what it's like to experience the western culture for the first time, coming from a nearly perfect state of vacuum. Everything was new, vibrant, and amazing, including sliced bread and bologna.

Now throw on top of this, Dr Seuss books. It's like adding Mentos to a bottle of soda. I remember vividly pulling those books off the shelf at the local public library, which was mind blowing in and of itself. An air-conditioned building where everyone is polite and quiet, filled with books! A children's section, my gawd! What are these books, with cats, funny hats, strange words, what does it all mean?

Of all the books I read during those first few months of being in the US, the only ones I remember is my English text book, and Dr Seuss books. Maybe Dr Seuss books contain racially insensitive content, but to stop printing a volume because it talks about Chinese people using chopsticks? I imagine the 11-year-old me would have giggled at understanding that one reference, a moment of familiarity on and otherwise wild mental ride.

Read the article, it isn't the government taking this action. It is the company that holds the rights. This isn't the authoritarian communist state. Please.

You didn't read what I wrote. I only mentioned my home country as a contrast to the rich and vibrant culture I encountered in the US. Dr. Seuss books are representative of the unrestrained imaginations of a child's mind, immersed in the glimmering melting pot that is the United States, feeding off of its nutrients. Ironically, the same parents who pay $6 for a dozen of eggs from certified cage-free antibiotic-free grain-fed chickens want their kids to experience a literary world that is sterile, scrubbed of impurities, liberally sprayed with the pesticide of leftist conformity.

Notice I didn't blame the government for anything in the above.

You're far down the propaganda rabbit hole with this kind of stereotyping. You see yourself an enlightened thinker, but you're not. You resolve your trauma by swinging hard to the opposite side of the ideological spectrum. You're not the first - or last - immigrant to experience this. Your kids will be more balanced.

Wow, wanting certain Dr Seuss books to remain in print is the "opposite side of the ideological spectrum?" Right, your views on this are so balanced.

The scorn you heaped upon parents who buy $6 eggs and apparently want their children to experience a sterile literary world "sprayed with the pesticide of leftist conformity" gives away your hatred. You might be able to fool some people, but your shtick is pretty transparent.

Pointing out hypocritical behavior is the "opposite side of the ideological spectrum?" I don't hate anyone, you are just projecting.

What hypocrisy? Some people are lucky enough to have disposable income and they choose to support companies that don't use antibiotics in feed. Therefore...books? I don't get it.

Right, people engaging in hypocritical behavior or approve of it typically don't see the hypocrisy.

Please explain the link between books with stereotypical caricatures and cage-free eggs. And please use short words, since I'm very dumb.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP and other conservatives on this thread, what do you want the government to do about this situation? So far none of you have offered ideas toward that end.

And how do we know this is the fault of Evil Liberals again?