“One of the central problems American society has faced throughout history is its desire for intellectual and spiritual comfort, the avoidance of pain at almost any cost.”
“The constant need for entertainment, the contempt for history, for thought, for reflection, the political and cultural polarization, and the replacement of imagination and ideas with ideology are all rooted in this urge toward comfort.”
“This aversion to pain has now reached epic proportions.”
“We ban anything that pains us. We teach children to close their eyes to anything that pains them, to divert themselves from the bitterness of truth, and to shield themselves with trigger warnings. We don’t want to be disturbed.”
“But while we might be able to ban fiction, we cannot ban the realities of life, and life contains pain. If we don’t confront those traumas, we are not really living.” — Azar Nafisi, author of Read Dangerously: The Subversive Power of Literature in Troubled Times.
#1- Censorship and banning of things like access to knowledge (aka, literature)
Attempts to ban books in the United States surged in 2021 to the highest level in two decades, according to the American Library Association.
According to the American Library Association data, the biggest reasons for banned books are racial issues, damaging lifestyles (“damaging” seems a relative term since a damaging lifestyle to me might not feel damaging to someone else…), blasphemous dialog, sex (uhh…last time I checked, sex was a totally natural and normal, vital aspect of humanity?), violence/negativity (only in America where our unrelenting-to-the-point-of-blind-positivity would books that seem “negative” be banned), witchcraft, religion, politics (really? So we want our kids to grow up ignorant of what’s going on in America?), or just age-inappropriate (again, super relative term).
Schools, school libraries, and public libraries are the institutions that constantly challenge written work. The states with the most challenges are Texas, North Carolina, and Oregon.
Interestingly, most targeted titles as of late are about Black and L.G.B.T.Q. people, which suggests that as much progress as we’ve made, we are still quite the racist, prejudiced, fearful country. Hence all this rampant attempt on banning books…
This rise in attempts to ban books is quite concerning for a number of reasons.
Banning books and “cancel culture”, since these are sides of the same coin, are grasping for what they believe is “safety”, while we are sacrificing learned resilience, real wisdom, and the opportunity to truly learn about life.
America is on a particularly crazy crusade right now in which many want to isolate themselves from anything that upsets, unsettles, or offends them.
If it bothers us, it’s “bad” or “wrong,” period, with no wiggle room for alternate interpretation.
We believe trigger warnings will protect and save us (Shocking tidbit? They won’t. In fact, trigger warnings increase anxiety, research is showing).
We’ve come to believe anything we disagree with is to be avoided at all costs (which is absurd thinking, because if you only ever surround yourself with things you agree with, this is a narrow, isolated way of living that will not teach you much of anything).
All authors, readers, literary agents, and publishers should be paying close attention to this so they can do everything in their power to not allow it to accelerate even further, and so they can do whatever possible to keep all sorts of stories available for readers, even ones that might make us feel comfortable or even pained.
Because, in the wise words of Azar Nafisi, “While we might be able to ban fiction, we cannot ban the realities of life, and life contains pain. If we don’t confront those traumas, we are not really living.”
#2- Trying to take away the free will and bodily autonomy of half the population (aka, women)
We need to look no further than the recent leak from the Supreme Court.
“Nobody likes abortion, even when safe and legal,” says celebrated author, Margaret Atwood (writer of The Handmaid's Tale). “It’s not what any woman would choose for a happy time on Saturday night. But nobody likes women bleeding to death on the bathroom floor from illegal abortions either. What to do?”
She then goes on to say that abortion is a matter of choice and freedom and that the restrictions placed on the practice would leave half the population ‘enslaved.’
“Women who cannot make their own decisions about whether or not to have babies are enslaved because the state claims ownership of their bodies and the right to dictate the use to which their bodies must be put.”
She argues that the only similar consequence for men would be a reinstallation of mandatory military service, though she points out that they at least are given provisions throughout their service.
‘Enforce childbirth if you wish but at least call that enforcing by what it is. It is slavery: the claim to own and control another’s body, and to profit by that claim.’
And when basic human rights like this, freedom over one's bodily autonomy, get made legal? That's some scary stuff right there, in terms of where a country is heading.
#3 A sense of disdain for intellectuals and the arts
Look no further than the fact that the proportion of Americans who read books is now at its lowest ever recorded.
The American Time Use Survey- which studies a representative sample of 26,000 Americans- found that between 2004 and 2017, the proportion of men reading books for pleasure had fallen by 40 percent, while for women it was down by 30 percent.
A Gallup poll found that the proportion of Americans who never read a book in a given year tripled between 1978 and 2014.
Some 57 percent of Americans now do not read a single book in a typical year.
Comparatively, the average American now spends 5.4 hours each day fiddling around on their phone, scrolling, texting, “liking”, “tweeting”, looking through social media, and such.
Guess why fascism doesn’t like wisdom, intellectuals, and the arts?
Because they expose and talk about the danger lurking for what it is.
Because they speak out.
Because they challenge and reveal the oppressor....
#4 An aura of intense anger, polarization, and fear in a culture
Anyone who has lived in America over the last several years, unless living under a rock, or in a forcefield is blind optimism, has felt and can see this is very much present, pulsing beneath the surface and spilling out from its strained seams.
#5 Claims of fraudulent elections
Uh, look no further than the last election, when Donald Trump claimed the counts were false. Riiiiiiiight. And heck, millions of people in our country still believe this!
Millions also believe in QAnon, which has been proven to 100 percent be all conspiracy theories.
Millions of people in our country are no longer present in reality and in the land of what’s real, and instead, believe all sorts of things that are flat-out delusions, and this is also a huge part of the problem.
Because if you no longer know or have a grasp on what’s real, how can you be an impactful participant in the world? And how can you help fight for what’s good and real and true?
#6 Powerful and continuing nationalism
Take a look at January 6th as the clearest, most in-your-face example of this.
There are also numerous examples of this exemplified throughout Donald Trump’s presidency, of bragging, bombastic, showy gestures, and encouragement of white supremacy and nationalism.
#7 Rampant sexism
Look no further than Roe Versus Wade potentially being overturned for the most massive indicator of this, among many, many others...
#8 Corporate protected power
Take a look at how places like Amazon and people like Donald Trump have paid almost zilch in taxes and yet, continue to rake in the dough, and they suffer zero consequences for it.
#9 Religion and government become intertwined
Look no further than our recent move towards making abortion illegal.
This is exactly that.
#10 Labor power suppressed
Amazon recently took away a bunch of basic benefits for its workers.
People in this country already, by default, get scant “benefits” while working their asses off and feeling guilty if they take even a single day off.
People still pay up the wazoo out of pocket for health insurance. They are made to feel like a terrible person who might get fired if they are out for one sick day, or a slacker if they take a vacation.
Unions have been broken apart.
There is little to no protection or empathetic humane rights for most workers in this country.
* * *
In January 2017, an image of 14 early signs of fascism, which hangs in the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, went viral.
Here they are.
- Powerful and continuing nationalism
- Disdain for human rights
- Identification of enemies as a unifying cause
- Supremacy of the military
- Rampant sexism
- Controlled mass media
- Obsession with national security
- Religion and government intertwined
- Corporate power protected
- Labor power suppressed
- Disdain for intellectuals & the arts
- Obsession with crime & punishment
- Rampant cronyism & corruption
- Fraudulent elections
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