Dr. Seuss books deemed offensive will be delisted from eBay • Hacker News Board

Re: Dr. Seuss books deemed offensive will be delisted from eBay

#151

Post by op00to » Fri, Mar 05, 2021, 12:32 AM UTC

elindbe3 wrote: post #112

notJim wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not what happened. This decision has actually been in the works for a while and involved a lot of discussion. > The decision to cease publication and sales of the books was made last year after months of discussion, the company, which was founded by Seuss’ family, told AP https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation-world/ct-aud-nw-dr-... eBay has an existing policy that removes racist materials. They're just appl…

Charles Manson In His Own Words is a-OK though!

Your point, please?

Re: Dr. Seuss books deemed offensive will be delisted from eBay

#152

Post by throwaway3699 » Fri, Mar 05, 2021, 12:32 AM UTC

question000 wrote: post #103

jaimex2 wrote: post #73

If you want to send a clear message to eBay you can close your account here. https://www.ebay.com.au/help/account/changing-account-settin... It should not be up to them what is and isn't offensive. I did the same to Netflix last year. Money talks at the end of the day.

I'm just so offended that you would economically harm all the good people working at EBay due to political stances they might not even agree with. People are so reactionary these days. This is the real cancel culture.

Is this sarcasm? eBay is a publicly traded multi-billion dollar corporation. If they do something I hate, why would I ever shop there again?

Re: Dr. Seuss books deemed offensive will be delisted from eBay

#153

Post by brailsafe » Fri, Mar 05, 2021, 12:32 AM UTC

snicksnak wrote: post #79

Fezzik wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

and from a platform that still allows Mein Kampf to be listed it seems especially idiotic... Edit, to add: as a comment below notes eBay only allows annotated versions of the book. So maybe they are consistent; I didn’t click through any of the listings when I searched. I also have no idea how you annotate Mein Kampf to not be racist/anti-Semitic propaganda...

It's the next step of corporate virtue signaling. Just repeating slogans on twitter or changing the bio and profile of a company account will not be enough anymore, instead pick a ridiculous hot topic from the news cycle and use this as an opportunity to implement an even more ridiculous policy change in your company to show that your company is down with the cause. I bet we will see even more of that.

I love the term virtue signalling, but I'd much prefer the stronger word come back into the regular lexicon: "sanctimonious". It feels more impactful, as in "we didn't need a new word to describe your tendency to shout about your moral superiority"

Re: Dr. Seuss books deemed offensive will be delisted from eBay

#154

Post by op00to » Fri, Mar 05, 2021, 12:32 AM UTC

kfgx10 wrote: post #85

notJim wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not what happened. This decision has actually been in the works for a while and involved a lot of discussion. > The decision to cease publication and sales of the books was made last year after months of discussion, the company, which was founded by Seuss’ family, told AP https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation-world/ct-aud-nw-dr-... eBay has an existing policy that removes racist materials. They're just appl…

So, the complete works of Shakespeare are banned because they contain "The merchant of Venice"?

No. Your point?

Re: Dr. Seuss books deemed offensive will be delisted from eBay

#155

Post by zwily » Fri, Mar 05, 2021, 12:32 AM UTC

birdyrooster wrote: post #139

refurb wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup. The adults in the room should have nipped this crap in the bud but instead they entertained it. Now it’s a much bigger problem to solve. Check out SFUSD renaming racists schools like “Lincoln High”. Eventually parents had start a recall effort to end it.

Pretty sure they tabled it for now but it definitely did not end.

They voted a month ago to move forward. I haven’t seen anything about it tabled - do you have a link?

Re: Dr. Seuss books deemed offensive will be delisted from eBay

#156

Post by nullserver » Fri, Mar 05, 2021, 12:33 AM UTC

abhorrence wrote: post #77

chroem- wrote: post #75

My work sent out a memo today regarding what pronouns I'm allowed to use. We're in the middle of a cultural revolution, and the current trend seems to be for rapid acceleration rather than moderation.

With what pronouns you're allowed to use to describe yourself? Or what pronouns you're allowed to use to describe others?

I learned the hard way that using a persons name instead of desired pronoun is a major offense.

Re: Dr. Seuss books deemed offensive will be delisted from eBay

#157

Post by edflsafoiewq » Fri, Mar 05, 2021, 12:33 AM UTC

DanBC wrote: post #27

BitwiseFool wrote: post #2

Am I not alone in thinking this Neo-puritanism is going too far?

Had you ever heard of these six books before today? Have you ever read them? How many were sold? We've been sanitising kids books for decades now. What version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory do you own? The original with actual African slaves and the colonialist rescue narrative, or the later version with Oompa Loompas and the colonialist rescue narrative? What version of Edward's Sneeze from the Thomas the Tan…

> Had you ever heard of these six books before today? Have you ever read them?

Yes, I own McElligot's Pool and I particularly remember borrowing On Beyond Zebra from the library for its imaginary alphabet.

The offensive material in Pool appears to be the "Eskimo fish" (the word "Eskimo" apparently being derogatory), and in Zebra, somewhat obscurely, a "Nazzim of Bazzim" riding a camel called a "Spazzim".

> We've been sanitising kids books for decades now.

I don't really have a problem with that, but they aren't being sanitized are they? They're just not being sold at all.

Re: Dr. Seuss books deemed offensive will be delisted from eBay

#158

Post by 83457 » Fri, Mar 05, 2021, 12:33 AM UTC

chroem- wrote: post #81

abhorrence wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With what pronouns you're allowed to use to describe yourself? Or what pronouns you're allowed to use to describe others?

I am no longer allowed to refer to my group of cisgendered male companions as "you guys."

What precipitated this?

Re: Dr. Seuss books deemed offensive will be delisted from eBay

#159

Post by madeofpalk » Fri, Mar 05, 2021, 12:33 AM UTC

40four wrote: post #130

I haven’t seen these books since I was a kid. Does anyone know of, or where I can find the specific examples from each book, and what people find offensive? I’m really curious to the specifics here. On this same topic, I recently rewatched Aladdin, on Disney plus and was surprised that it was prefaced with a ‘social justice’ disclaimer. They said they wouldn’t take it down, but warned it might be offensive. Ok, so we…

So what’s the problem?

Re: Dr. Seuss books deemed offensive will be delisted from eBay

#160

Post by yew » Fri, Mar 05, 2021, 12:33 AM UTC

We mustn't forget the history that resulted in these racist books. At the same time, it's important to ensure that children aren't exposed to such material.

Removing them from public spaces is a good first step - eventually we'll need to give thought to rummage sales and private libraries (parents often try to pass their erroneous ideas on without the consent of society, of course, and accidents happen).

Given the volume of literature in modern society and the workforce needed to police physical (not just virtual) material, cooperation between all involved interests, public and private, might perhaps be warranted.