I have just published another piece in The Texas Orator, on banned books.
Well, theoretically. It’s actually about what makes books valuable in the first place.
Actually, it’s just me spending four thousand words talking about utilitarian political philosophy.
In reality, it is a combination of all three. One thing which annoys me is when people grow hysterical over particular books in school libraries, either their presence or removal, without considering the question of how we should decide what books belong in school libraries in the first place. Because they are taxpayer funded, the usual solution of “let people do what they want,” which works for private bookstores, fails here, This is because the relevant people are employees of the state, and thus of the people. So “the people” need to decide how our employees are to be instructed in their selection of books.
This piece works out the general theory behind how I believe we should view the problem, part two will (hopefully, as of now it’s not even out of drafting) sketch out an actual solution.
In the meantime, please feel free to leave a comment, either here or over at the Orator, regarding the article. Whether you agree with me completely or think this is the worst drivel to ever grace the Orator’s pages, I enjoy hearing everyone’s feedback.