Although there still remains the "stumps" remark and one thing bugs me. Why ban a book? A good working democracy shouldn't ban anything and allow freedom of speech.
That surprised me, too, though the concept isn't as alien to me as it might be to others.
It surprised me so much because from what we've seen so far, the political system seems to be modelled after the American one, which AFAIK has no banning of any books.
OTOH, I'm from a country where certain books are banned, in the sense that it's illegal to buy them, sell them or otherwise distribute them. It's a handful, and it has to do with German history. It's not like the practice isn't questioned by people, but I don't think anyone would argue this disqualifies Germany as a democracy.
So to me, the idea of a banned book, while surprising, wasn't so much shocking as intriguing, particularly with my point of reference of "books a government might want to ban"; what specific buttons would Zarek have to push in that book that would get him banned?
Though, of course, the easier answer to that could simply be that the Colonies do have quite a few deficiencies when it comes to their democracy, and the book didn't have to be that "out there" to get banned.
I don't have an opinion on the stumps -- I would have to watch BD again. Oh, the hardship!
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2005-04-13 12:57 pm (UTC)That surprised me, too, though the concept isn't as alien to me as it might be to others.
It surprised me so much because from what we've seen so far, the political system seems to be modelled after the American one, which AFAIK has no banning of any books.
OTOH, I'm from a country where certain books are banned, in the sense that it's illegal to buy them, sell them or otherwise distribute them. It's a handful, and it has to do with German history. It's not like the practice isn't questioned by people, but I don't think anyone would argue this disqualifies Germany as a democracy.
So to me, the idea of a banned book, while surprising, wasn't so much shocking as intriguing, particularly with my point of reference of "books a government might want to ban"; what specific buttons would Zarek have to push in that book that would get him banned?
Though, of course, the easier answer to that could simply be that the Colonies do have quite a few deficiencies when it comes to their democracy, and the book didn't have to be that "out there" to get banned.
I don't have an opinion on the stumps -- I would have to watch BD again. Oh, the hardship!