Think. It Ain't Illegal Yet
What are current book bans leading to in the near future?
Issue #386 OpEd Monday, September 25, 2023
Those who know me know that I am a huge fan of Parliament Funkadelic. And huge probably isn’t a big enough word. But I am truly a die hard fan.
And once again, I’m asking you to stick with me. There’s a point to this. I really do promise.
P-Funk had a ton of hits and game-changing albums in their heyday back in the ‘70s and ‘80s, but undoubtedly one of their most commercially successful albums was One Nation Under A Groove, released in 1978, two years before I graduated from college. And the biggest hit song on that album was, without a doubt, the title track. But tucked inside that album was a small bonus 45 (if you’re old enough to know, then you know), and on that 45 there were two songs. One of those songs was entitled “Lunchmeataphobia (Think! It Ain’t Illegal Yet!)”
Like what was contained within the confines of so many of George Clinton’s oftentimes brilliantly prophetic/insightful/inciteful/psychedelic and mind-altering lyrics, these few words said it all. And today, 45 years later, I think they apply even more. Because our ability to actually think, analyze, and process information is being stripped away - and so is the information. All while we wander mindlessly about, sucked into the false comfort zone of our our cell phones, oblivious to the shrinking world around us.
Oftentimes it’s what you know that can save you. Likewise, it can be what you don’t know that can get you killed - or at least kill your brain cells.
And the creation of a brain dead, compliant electorate is one of the primary objectives of today’s Republican Party. Because functioning brain cells and questioning minds are a clear and present danger to their agenda.
Which would explain the significant rise in book banning over the past year (told you there was a point to this).
School book bans and restrictions in the U.S. rose 33% in the last school year, according to a new report from the free speech group PEN America, continuing what it calls a worrisome effort aimed at the "suppression of stories and ideas." Florida had more bans than any other state.
Overall, PEN America said it found 3,362 cases of book bans, up from 2,532 bans in the 2021-'22 school year.
The organization counts any move that restricts access to a book as a ban, including books removed from classrooms or libraries or both, as well as books temporarily removed while they're being challenged.
If you count only the books that have been permanently removed from school libraries and classrooms, the report's lead author, Kasey Meehan, says the increase is even more alarming. That number has quadrupled — to 1,263 books in the last school year from 333 the year before.
And this is happening despite the fact that “64% of Americans oppose book bans by school boards, and 69% oppose book bans by state lawmakers.”
Because if you haven’t figured it out by now then let’s make it plain; this isn’t about what you want, unless you’re MAGA. This has nothing to do with what is best for you, your family, or the country. No more than the massive nationwide push for abortion bans has anything to do with what most Americans think is right.
The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24, 2022. Once again, most polls show a sizable majority of Americans think abortion should be legal in most cases. According to a Pew Research poll conducted in June of last year, that percentage is 61%. Admittedly abortion is a contentious issue, and polls can vary, but research shows that regardless of the fluctuation on percentage, it’s pretty clear most Americans reject what MAGA Republicans are up to. Whether it’s control over a woman’s body, or control over all of our minds.
Fortunately - for now - most books are easily accessible on the internet via all kinds of ways. And these are just the ways we adults are aware of. I’m quite sure the kids have more than a few additional alternative ways of finding out what they want to find out.
When they want to find out. If they want to find out.
Because the movement to ban books isn’t just about banning books. I’m sure those behind this twisted campaign are well aware that most kids aren’t flooding the libraries of America. But if they can just keep up the drumbeat long enough and loud enough, pounding it into young minds that knowledge is bad for you and Big Brother knows best, then soon enough there will no longer be a need to ban books because we will begin banning those books ourselves as we gradually stop reading and our natural human curiosity is buried alongside the withered flame of our intellect.
And then?
To quote the Great George W. Bush: “Mission Accomplished”.
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