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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]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. [/quote]

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.[/quote]

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. [/quote]

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.[/quote]

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. [/quote]

Ok.  So go print your own book.  Brighten up that culture! [/quote]

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. [/quote]

[b]So you're saying that people should not be advocating for things they believe in?
[/b]
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.[/quote]

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. [/quote]

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