This is not a fun post. Okay, maybe it will be. I can't help being funny, but this is a post about something I care about, and which I hope you care about as well.
The destruction of books is something barbaric. Books are our culture. Those who came before us live through their written words, and they contain part of our history; the reason we live the way we live now.
Nothing can replace that, ever.
No, not even burning Twilight is okay!
To destroy a book is the equivalent of murder, and I can't see how the opposite can be true. If someone disagree, please, explain to me. I would really like to know how you can burn yours or someone else's legacy then sleep comfortably that night.
Even if you don't think exactly that, very few would say that books ought to be destroyed. Yet that is exactly what is happening. Right now.
NOW!
I am not just talking about the normal wear and tear problem of simply failing to preserve the literature. At the moment of reading, people around the world, in your very hometown, engage in a concious and organized effort to destroy hundreds of books, and yes, it is probably by means of burning.
They are not bad people, mind you. See, books spends most of their natural life in something called "the market". Be it the library, the bookstore, antique store or second-hand shop, they always seem to find a way to get back that price-tag or that stamp.
Make no mistake though. The market is harsh and unforgiving, and not many, be it people or books, can survive there.
I've seen this happen with my own eyes. In fact, I admit to have partaken in this.
I used to work an internship back at Myrorna, a Swedish chain store run by and for the Salvation army, and sell second-hand wares; anything from toys to art to furniture. And books.
The idea is simple: accept gifts from people, sell them really cheaply and give all profits to charity. A viable alternative to driving all the way to the dump, the givers get to feel like they contribute, people with low income gets somewhere to buy necessities and the truly needing gets a much needed penny. Seems very nice on paper, but unfortunately not everything on paper transfers as neatly into reality. "The market" and "charity" don't really combine, and these types of companies are made to do things that the world probably would be better off without.
Many of their wares cannot be sold, and needs to be replaced by new wares that might sell better. When books don't survive the market, they are given a viking funeral, by which I mean they are burned ( thrown into the burnable trash at least, but I assume that it's "burnable" because they are supposed to burn at one point ).
So yes, literal book burning happens. Not just to worn-out books, or books whose popularity well exceeds their quality, but really old books from the 19th century and, I swear, from the FUCKING RENAISSANCE!
I could not afford to protest. I too am at the mercy of a cruel market that doesn't tolerate rebellious attitudes. I do judge them, and myself, but merely complaining is not going to make a difference.
We need action.
We need money.
We need information.
But first and foremost, we need awareness.
So please, dear reader. Whoever you are, spread the word. Tell your parents. Your brother. Your sister. Your newspaper. Your paperboy. Your milkman. Your cat. Tell everyone you meet, and tell them to spread the message. We are at a pivotal point in history, where we once and for all need to consider if our legacy matters to us, if the written language matters to us and if ideas matter to us.
There are people who need books in the world. Prisons, schools, children of developing countries. There are people who need to get rid of books.
There must be a way for these people to meet with each other.
My dream is to buy unmarketable books from stores and libraries, stock them and give them away to the needy. And I would like to think it can be done.
For more information, please visit this CRACKED article, which was the first thing that popped up when I Googled "book destruction".
In my defense, it's kind of a hard subject to research.
