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Dr. Seuss books deemed offensive will be delisted from eBay

wsj.com

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

#541

Post by stickfigure »

hintymad wrote: post #492
whatever10 wrote: post #392

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah the typical authoritative propaganda “they are all the same, at least we have order”. No we don’t have in the US a non elected politburo making nationwide decisions on speech issues.

You miss the point. The point is the US in a way is worse than a totalitarian regime like China: in a totalitarian regime it is the government the pushes censorship and hatred in the disguise of morality. In the US it is the elites and ordinary people who do that voluntarily for the so-called narratives. The US is building its own highway to tyranny.

"democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time"

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

#542

Post by andreskytt »

That’s actually an interesting challenge. It’s just good manners not to offend someone you are communicating with. Makes sense, keeps the society going and has done so for millennia. Til now the number of people you might be communicating with has been geographically limited and therefore avoiding offense was doable. But now the interweb not only expands the number of counterparts, but makes it very difficult to know, what might be offensive. Two ways this can go, I think. One, people learn not to consume things they find offensive and be less offended by things. Two, this communication challenge will serve as an balancing loop for globalization and shrink the world back down to where we can still manage. I’m afraid, it’s going to be the latter.

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

#543

Post by quadrifoliate »

yellowapple wrote: post #516
quadrifoliate wrote: post #495

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> eBay deciding unilaterally that people can't buy or sell already-printed copies eBay is not "unilaterally" deciding anything. I can't remember the last time I bought or sold anything on eBay for instance. As I see it, they probably want to avoid the resulting controversy from any of these items, and don't want anything to do with them on their platform. As an immigrant to the US, this is what I don't get. Isn't the…

> Isn't the whole idea of capitalism supposed to be that eBay's delisting is an opportunity for ten other websites specializing in obscure Dr. Seuss books to pop up and eat their business? It is. And don't get me wrong: eBay's well within their rights to restrict what people can buy and sell on their platform. It's just weird that this is where they draw the line; the message here seems to be "we're totally fine with…

> That is: eBay having the right to do something does not make them above criticism or scrutiny.

Yes, the inconsistent policy applications you mention does mean that eBay is a terrible site if you want to find well-vetted products. Honestly, I have never gotten a particularly "trustworthy" vibe from eBay, so this doesn't come as a huge surprise to me.

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

#546

Post by 1123581321 »

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…

The the typical answer to many of your questions is yes, and where the answers are no, the mission should be to preserve as the impact from selling them is apparently minimal.

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

#547

Post by chmod600 »

Morality has a dark side. When used to judge yourself, it's a powerful way to cut through the rationalizations for bad behavior, and hopefully lead to better behavior.

When used to judge others, morality almost always leads to self-righteousness, and contempt for people that don't live up to your standards. Usually the "standards" also change rapidly in a cycle to feed one's own self-worth by judging others more and more harshly.

The Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, the Salem witch trials, and the Red Scare are all examples of morality going awry. And we are in one of these cycles now... there is no doubt in my mind.

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

#548

Post by threatofrain »

supernova87a wrote: post #55

Now this part is getting a little too carried away. It is one thing for libraries and bookstores to decide not to offer for borrowing or sale things that they disagree with. It is another (and overstepping imo) for Ebay to restrict individual people from selling to others goods that are not illegal or in violation of their other practical rules (no selling jewelry, monetary equivalents, etc). This falls into the cate…

The family which manages the author's estate pulled the books.

> 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.

Also, should eBay really be forced to carry books? Should the Seuss family really be forced to publish? When does the right to speech translate into someone else's obligation to publish?

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

#549

Post by xmprt »

hintymad wrote: post #492
whatever10 wrote: post #392

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah the typical authoritative propaganda “they are all the same, at least we have order”. No we don’t have in the US a non elected politburo making nationwide decisions on speech issues.

You miss the point. The point is the US in a way is worse than a totalitarian regime like China: in a totalitarian regime it is the government the pushes censorship and hatred in the disguise of morality. In the US it is the elites and ordinary people who do that voluntarily for the so-called narratives. The US is building its own highway to tyranny.

Why is it better for the government to restrict speech than for elites to restrict speech? The government has a monopoly on force so in countries where the government also controls speech, you can face criminal penalties for not complying. No company can do that.

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

#550

Post by chmod600 »

Are there any examples in history or literary fiction (including sci-fi) where the ones that ban books and punish thoughts are the good guys?

It's just crazy to me. Electing Trump was pretty crazy, too, but the idea that "liberals" would be on the side of burning books and militarizing the capital would have been unimaginable mere months ago.

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