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Dr. Seuss books deemed offensive will be delisted from eBay

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

#691

Post by illirik »

coldtea wrote: post #652
illirik wrote: post #592

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The “weapon” here is just basic conscientiousness. A publisher decided to stop publishing some books because they denigrate people, and eBay decided that they did not want to be facilitating the sale of books that denigrate people. We are not talking about an H-bomb - there is no power structure wielding a “cancel button” here.

> The “weapon” here is just basic conscientiousness No, it's predominantly white-driven top-down (upper 20% income bracket) classism run amok, proping up specialist careers and pretending to be about "caring" and "wokeness". > there is no power structure wielding a “cancel button” here. Yeah, no "power structure", just the mainstream media, the corporate world, ad agencies, governments, government agencies, web-mobs,…

> No, it's predominantly white-driven top-down (upper 20% income bracket) classism run amok, proping up specialist careers and pretending to be about "caring" and "wokeness".

I'm pretty sure most people are in agreement that racist caricatures are bad.

> Yeah, no "power structure", just the mainstream media, the corporate world, ad agencies, governments, government agencies, web-mobs, FAANG - the biggest tech companies in the world plus Clouldflare and others, payment processors, the "good society" class wise and so on, with an increasing number of BS laws on their side too...

My wording could have been better, but my meaning was that this "cancellation" (which is really just people acknowledging that something is bad) is not applied by some power structure, and is certainly not a weapon that can be aimed at arbitrary concepts at will. I agree that free speech is important, but hate speech is not.

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

#692

Post by runsWphotons »

kstenerud wrote: post #628
wirrbel wrote: post #573

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Germany here, we banned Mein Kampf from being sold (used copyright law to do that). I once stood in a book shop (teenager, time to look at books but not enough money to buy them) and some skindheads wanted to buy it, it wasn't available. They went away. Providing context is good, but frankly also really difficult and why not just provide newer childrens books that are more inclusive.

Upvoted you to counter the downvotes since this actually does add to the discussion. It's important to remember that the power of Mein Kampf lies in its status as a symbol, not its actual contents. Nobody actually reads Mein Kampf, nor have they ever (just like nobody actually reads the Bible unless they're actual preachers). It was (and still is) about the personality cult of a strong man and his message of power vi…

Lots of non-preachers read the Bible. Less people read mein Kampf but I know of some (some friends at school, some teachers at uni, some people on YouTube). I think Dr. Seuss was a bit of a symbol before, but now is definitely a symbol. I don't think your distinction here is very clean and your comment is elitist.

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

#693

Post by DanBC »

acheron wrote: post #318
DanBC wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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? Um, yes, of course. Have you not?

No, because I'm not interested in not very good, sixty year old, books.

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

#694

Post by thraway123412 »

bromuro wrote: post #452
dmix wrote: post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And you get downvoted on HN for even mentioning “slippery slope”.

i wish we could keep “comments about downvotes” out of HN. Reddit is a better place to dramatize these things.

Every time someone comments about downvotes, there has to be that one person to contribute a completely useless comment about comments about downvotes. It wouldn't be HN without you.

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

#695

Post by electriclove »

inglor_cz wrote: post #631
illirik wrote: post #592

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The “weapon” here is just basic conscientiousness. A publisher decided to stop publishing some books because they denigrate people, and eBay decided that they did not want to be facilitating the sale of books that denigrate people. We are not talking about an H-bomb - there is no power structure wielding a “cancel button” here.

Using the word "denigrate" would be a reason to cancel you for some very conscientious minds. It sounds too similar to, ya know. And you aren't even talking Chinese [1] [1] https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/09/08/professor-sus...

No stretch needed, this poster could definitely be cancelled for using that word.

"If you "denigrate" someone, you attempt to blacken their reputation. It makes sense, therefore, that "denigrate" can be traced back to the Latin verb denigrare, meaning "to blacken.""

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/denigrate

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

#696

Post by sjaak »

To everyone defending eBays actions in this thread, I have a humble request. Please ask yourself this:

What would it take for you to say that the Woke movement has gone too far?

Think about it for a second. Remember what you decided on. Perhaps, in a few weeks or months from now, you will understand the people lambasting this decision from eBay.

The concept is explained here in more detail: https://newdiscourses.com/2020/06/woke-breaking-point/

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

#698

Post by bawolff »

illirik wrote: post #592
anonisko wrote: post #567

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Too many people support the development of powerful weapons without considering what happens when their enemies get a hold of them.

The “weapon” here is just basic conscientiousness. A publisher decided to stop publishing some books because they denigrate people, and eBay decided that they did not want to be facilitating the sale of books that denigrate people. We are not talking about an H-bomb - there is no power structure wielding a “cancel button” here.

Ah yes, mein kampf is ok [1], but dr suess is a bridge too far.

[Before anyone makes assumptions about my political views, i'm fine with publishers no longer publishing if tastes change, but i can't abide banning the sale of books in general. I don't really care what the content is]

[1] https://www.ebay.ca/itm/MEIN-KAMPF-1939-Complete-Unabridged-...

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

#699

Post by legutierr »

stef25 wrote: post #680
illirik wrote: post #592

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The “weapon” here is just basic conscientiousness. A publisher decided to stop publishing some books because they denigrate people, and eBay decided that they did not want to be facilitating the sale of books that denigrate people. We are not talking about an H-bomb - there is no power structure wielding a “cancel button” here.

> there is no power structure wielding a “cancel button” here There absolutely is. Ebay is nipping in the bud a potential social media lynching. One misstep nowadays and the CEO spends weeks grovelling about how they're still learning and are determined to do better and thank you Twitter mob for pointing this out. You can't buy Doctor Seuss, but you can buy "The Anarchist Arsenal", hydrogen peroxide, acetone and a fe…

I hope the irony isn’t lost on you that you are using the word “lynching”—which in its literal, non-metaphorical usage refers to the terroristic murder of racial minorities in the United States—to refer to the non-violent use of cultural power by members of those same minority groups to demand respect from institutions and powerful individuals.

You may think that some of these demands have gone too far, and you may believe that some institutions have been too obsequious in adhering to these demands, but surely you must admit that the use of the word “lynching” in this context is offensive, no?

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

#700

Post by dgellow »

4ggr0 wrote: post #644
MrGilbert wrote: post #623

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Germany here, we banned Mein Kampf from being sold (used copyright law to do that). For me, the original "Mein Kampf" was a rather boring book to read. Since 2016, it is possible to buy a commented version of this book. It's available with the ISBN 9783981405231 for 59 € in Germany.

I really wanna buy that to see what exactly Mister A.H. had in his mind. I just wonder if me ordering it puts me on some sort of blacklist... (half /s)

It's really not worth your time and effort, he was a terrible writer. It's 700+ pages of a mix of boring memories and complains about everything, with plain racism and antisemitism throughout.

The book has this kind-of-mystic aura of a "rebellious, banned book too dangerous for people to read" but it's really just a complete trash and should be forgotten (outside of historian scholars who may have to read it, but I feel sorry for them).

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