So much discussion about children's books, yet they don't mention The Hardy Boys, Tom Swift, Rick Brandt, Ken Holt, Nancy Drew, Dig Allen, Tom Corbett, Dana Girls, Trixie Belden, Donna Parker, Brains Benton, Power Boys, Sandy Steele, Biff Brewster, Judy Bolton, and all the shenanigans of the Stratemeyer Syndicate.
No one buys books
741–750 of 752 posts
Re: No one buys books
#742Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I fail to see how this is a counter point. Well, that's probably because you are constantly arguing different points that aren't necessarily germane to the discussion. Remember, this was about your point that wealthy people build their wealth by suppressing education in the general populace. So this is a counter-point in that it is possible to build wealth by conscientious behavior instead. There is some research o…
> Remember, this was about your point that wealthy people build their wealth by suppressing education in the general populace. No. > Wealth inequality and the state of democracy are digressions from that point. Yes.
I think you've lost the thread. Here's the comment you were originally responding to in the context of our back-and-forth:
>Nobody wealthy is sitting around scheming how to keep the proles dumb and subdued.
To which you replied:
>"the idea that rich assholes would like to keep the education level of the general population below a threatening threshold is not conspiracy thinking to me, it's just obvious."
To which I replied:
>"The irony is that one of the largest contributions to the public library system was one of the richest guys ever."
It was all about the conspiracy that the wealthy actively suppress education until you went off the rails on a completely different rant.
Re: No one buys books
#743Earlier quoted context omitted.
Then he isn't rich, powerful and an unethical asshole. People can be rich and try to do the right thing even if there seems to be no direct economic incentive to do so — and I applaud them if they do realize that money alone doesn't create a meaningful life. Yet I don't need to wonder whether a normal tax rate on billionaires would do even more for the libraries.
> Yet I don't need to wonder whether a normal tax rate on billionaires would do even more for the libraries. I agree that tax rates should be higher, but I have absolutely no faith that politicians will do a better job stewarding money toward good causes than a billionaire who cares about them (and/or wants to brag about their philanthropy for clout)
>I agree that tax rates should be higher,
Why? Why isn't reducing waste ever an option?
Re: No one buys books
#744Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Yet I don't need to wonder whether a normal tax rate on billionaires would do even more for the libraries. I agree that tax rates should be higher, but I have absolutely no faith that politicians will do a better job stewarding money toward good causes than a billionaire who cares about them (and/or wants to brag about their philanthropy for clout)
>I agree that tax rates should be higher, Why? Why isn't reducing waste ever an option?
Reducing waste is a great option! I'm not of the opinion that raising taxes is some objectively correct solution or anything, my personal viewpoint is just that taxing more across the board to invest in infrastructure and long-term economic strengths is the way to go.
Re: No one buys books
#745Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not disruption to make me wait 5 weeks to read a digital file through my local library's Libby service. It's an outdated business model using artificial scarcity that isn't effective at getting books onto readers devices. Spotify doesn't make me take out a hold on the artist I want to listen to. Netflix doesn't make me queue to watch the latest release.
I don't think it's fair to compare Netflix and Spotify to libraries; you pay for the first two. I agree that it's artificial scarcity and it's hard to feel bad for the publishing companies
All the replies are missing the point.
Netflix and Spotify make a fuck ton of money. The library doesn't. As always it's the publishers you should be pissed at.
Re: No one buys books
#746Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm continually shocked by the number of people who forget that libraries exist, and what they are.
It's almost like it's a totally unnecessary public expenditure at this point, and those funds could be used for, IDK, feeding the homeless?
Terribly ironic of you to want to divert library funds to homeless when the homeless are some of the most faithful users of libraries in major cities. Homeless aid organizations even base their programs around libraries.
Re: No one buys books
#747Earlier quoted context omitted.
it's odd to me that you'd expect a large stock of English books in any regular Thai library even in Japan, with perhaps the very strongest reading culture in the world, you're going to find a relatively limited selection of books in library outside of their own language you'll likely have less success finding a varied stock of Thai books in Oregon, to the surprise of nobody
What are the 3 best Japanese books to read in your opinion? Like for English a good 3 would be Infinite Jest (trendy, pretentious), Moby Dick (classic), and Lord of The Rings (meme worthy).
There are hundreds of great ones, but Tale of Genji (classic), The Master of Go (amazing if you like the board game Go), Coin Locker Babies (Ryu Murkami > Haruki Murkami), Out by Natsuo Kirino.
Re: No one buys books
#748Earlier quoted context omitted.
How is this an unhealthy market? Everyone can easily access the books they want. People choose to read the Bible and Harry Potter because that's what they want to read. Of course, it might be a shame that we all coordinate on reading a few hits that everyone else is reading rather than check out some underappreciated books. But is the market really to blame for that? Amazon makes it easier than ever to find all the b…
> Everyone can easily access the books they want. Not particularly. New niche-interest non-fiction books are expensive ( $60+ ) and tend to have short print runs, after which their price on the second-hand market quickly escalates. And few are available as ebooks. I've had to let a lot of books pass me by, even before they've been printed, simply because I couldn't afford them.
I realise that this isn't an argument to show that the book market is healthy, but have you considered piracy? Many of the type of books you are describing are very easily available via libgen.
Re: No one buys books
#749Earlier quoted context omitted.
The number of vastly unequal societies throughout history who have banned the lower classes from learning how to read, or from any kind of education at all - beyond whatever narrow training will make them better perform their specific duties for those on top. ...and not just historically. Some societies where significant minority groups are banned from getting an education, in order to further perpetuate their margin…
Just look at women in afghanistan, for example.
India and the caste system has done it for the past 1-2000 years.
Literacy for more people is a relatively new thing.
Re: No one buys books
#750Earlier quoted context omitted.
I had this idea for a hard science fiction story that I have been thinking about for years. Nobody else is going to write it, so I started. 20 000 words in my beta readers say it is good, so I think I will continue. And I don’t expect to sell it, but I want to know what happens and so do the beta readers. So on we go.
Can I be a beta reader? Always looking for more good hard sci-fi.