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Lol you've really triggered the pro Mein Kampf culture warriors

pclmulqdq 8 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Mein Kampf is just the most stark example of a book that is forbidden, but very significant to read if you want to understand WWII history. Uncle Tom's Cabin is another example of a book you wont see but is another piece of literature you should read if you want to understand the ideology of a given time period. You don't have to agree with a book to read it.

Another commenter pointed out the anarchist's cookbook, which is another great book to read.

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cycomanic 6 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Incidentally Mein Kampf often is available in libraries in Germany (in a commented version, here for example https://www.provinzialbibliothek-amberg.de/discovery/fulldis...), and was never banned in the sense that people understand banned. You could always own and sell old versions however, printing and distributing new uncommented versions could be deemed Volksverhetzung.

It's also a crappy text and definitely not necessary to understand WWII, there are better texts.

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dhosek 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I’ve only read excerpts from it, and frankly, you don’t need to read it to understand WWII history. The important bits are well covered in any decent book on the subject and you won’t get any deeper insight by reading the source material.

	▲	pclmulqdq 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Yeah, reading the whole thing is a bit excessive.

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cycomanic 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> Another commenter pointed out the anarchist's cookbook, which is another great book to read.

Again why is it a good example, it's not banned in any meaningful sense of the word. I can get onto Amazon and buy it right now.

Calling it a good book to read is quite a stretch as well. It's a poorly written assembly of instructions for bomb and drug making (written by a 19 year old). Many of the instructions being outright dangerous, so much so that it has been suggested that the book was actually a plant by the CIA, FBI... (not that this is a very credible conspiracy theory). If you want to learn about bomb making better just pick up a chemistry textbook.

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ants_everywhere 8 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

As far as I know, it's never been banned in the US which makes it an odd choice to focus on.

Nazi material is generally banned in Germany and probably some other European countries. And this has been a point in the culture war for years.

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rufus_foreman 7 hours ago | parent [-]

>> As far as I know, it's never been banned in the US

The question is not if it is banned.

The question is if it is general circulation in public libraries.

This is motte and bailey. If a school library decides not to include a book in their library, that's curation, if it is a book you don't like. If it is a book you do like, it is censorship.

If you walk into your public library and browse the shelves, is the Anarchist Cookbook there? Mein Kampf? If they're not, does that mean they are banned?

I go to my public library quite often, and the books I am interested in are most often not on the shelves there, and the books that are on the shelves there have a political slant towards a politics that I detest. Librarians are in fact dangerous.

Now, that doesn't mean the books I want to read are banned, I have to put a hold on them from the stacks at central and they will ship them over, but they will never be on display at my local library.

They're not banned. But the books on display at my local branch library are curated by dangerous librarians I want nothing to do with.

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soulofmischief 6 hours ago | parent | next [-]

At my local public library, I could request books to be bought and put on the shelves. I was allowed to host open mic nights in middle school where I and other friends would read poetry and whatever else, free of censorship. Civil engagement through the library was easier than a lot of other public institutions, because while librarians curate, they also have the job of catering to their audience, and respecting requests.

The library became a sanctuary for me after school as it meant I could avoid abuse back home and have a less surveilled access to information such as books, wikis, news, protest music, games, etc. which I was able to later take back home or to other places and consume without fear of reprimand. It was also a third place, where I could meet people, gather people and engage with my community.

> They're not banned. But the books on display at my local branch library are curated by dangerous librarians I want nothing to do with.

Did you persistently try to civically engage with your local library over time and form a personal, positive relationship with the librarians? If so, and if denied, did you seek restitution in city hall or by contacting local congressmen? Or are you just complaining?

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rufus_foreman 6 hours ago | parent [-]

>> I was allowed to host open mic nights in middle school where I and other friends would read poetry and whatever else, free of censorship

That's nice. Keep it down though, we're trying to read books in here.

I'm beginning to suspect we have completely incompatible ideas of what a library is.

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soulofmischief 6 hours ago | parent [-]

A public library is a third space where ideas can be accessed and exchanged, and a focal point where the community can civically engage. In the past, that has mostly meant books, which have been a great way of archiving things, but many public libraries also have rooms for listening to music, watching films, or at least renting them to take home.

Many public libraries also welcome and encourage open mics if they have space to host them without affecting others. In my case, it was a small library in a small town, so I hosted the open mic after hours with the grace of the librarians who worked there, who were more than happy to encourage literacy through poetry.

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rufus_foreman 6 hours ago | parent [-]

>> A public library is a third space where ideas can be accessed and exchanged, and a focal point where the community can civically engage

I'm beginning to suspect we have completely incompatible ideas of what a library is.

For me it is mostly about access to books.

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soulofmischief 6 hours ago | parent [-]

A public library is different than a regular library, as an institution it has a rich history in what I've described. You can still access books.

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rufus_foreman 5 hours ago | parent [-]

I'm beginning to suspect we have completely incompatible ideas of what a library is.

	▲	soulofmischief 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Yes, and I'm trying to enlighten you on the historical purpose of the institution so that you have a better understanding of what a library is, instead of just relying on a personal feeling or opinion.

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amanaplanacanal 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I would much rather have a person who has gone to school to study childhood education and library science choosing books for the library, than randos trying to force their religion on everybody else's kids.

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rufus_foreman 5 hours ago | parent [-]

I'm an adult. I don't need someone who has studied childhood education to tell me what books to read, for fucks sake.

	▲	amanaplanacanal 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Sorry, I was taking about school libraries. For your public library, if they get requests for books, they get the books. Lots of people want to read fantasy romance, so those are the books they buy. Hardly anybody requests the anarchist's cookbook, so they rely on interlibrary loan to get it when someone wants it. They buy the books that are popular. This isn't rocket science. Just about any book you want is going to be available. This is what libraries do.

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soulofmischief 8 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Ha, I'm so confused! Where the fuck did these guys come from?

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o11c 8 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I'm pretty sure nobody commenting here actually wants Mein Kampf in particular. It's just a well-known example of a book that most people would agree to restrict. (The Anarchist Cookbook would probably be better if we need to pick a single work.)

... and since it's well known, its presence can get improperly used as a proxy for "this library is uncensored", when in fact the less-known books get restricted anyway.

	▲	soulofmischief 8 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		The Anarchist Cookbook is a great example. I had to acquire that from the internet. The people responding here mainly just come across as either ignorant or intentionally obtuse, thinking that if they can prove that in some cases the school administration overruled our teachers and librarians on the most egregious texts (as they constantly did), then the entire idea of "banned book week" is performative and not useful No one here seems to have actually made a real point, just looking for "gotchas".
	▲	justin66 7 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		> It's just a well-known example of a book that most people would agree to restrict. That's just completely wrong. In America it's a book most libraries would keep around as a visible indicator that they're not censoring books, and a book the letter-writing busybodies who want to censor books would not prioritize because there's no sex in it.
	▲	MyOutfitIsVague 7 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		> It's just a well-known example of a book that most people would agree to restrict. I don't think most reasonable people would agree to restrict such an impactful piece of history. It's shocking to me that people think something they disagree with should be entirely censored.
	▲	ants_everywhere 8 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Mein Kampf has been available at every school I've been at. It's not part of the curriculum but why would it be? Libraries usually have it because they have robust collections on authoritarianism for obvious reasons. The Anarchist Cookbook not so much. But neither are terrorist training manuals or other guides for making improvised weapons.

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ants_everywhere 8 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I don't know but they all have the same response.

My guess is there are forums somewhere where people complain a lot about librarians not giving access to Nazi material and how it's a crime against free speech absolutism.