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Missouri House Republicans vote to defund libraries
- 535188B17C93743 4y agoNot to mention the destruction of places of knowledge but this move destroys one of the last free third places in existence.
- cratermoon 4y agoI wonder if there's some for-profit book rental company supporting this bill or its sponsors.
- majormajor 4y agoOh, so protecting the children AND fighting homelessness? I'm sure there are plenty that see that as a two-for-one win.
- Forgeties79 4y agoHow is defunding libraries protecting children and fighting homelessness...?
- mdanger007 4y agoIf they have to axe places of public congregation to shore up the budget, before Republicans cut schools, libraries and parks, I propose they start with churches and their tax exemption.
- rgblambda 4y agoDoes the state of Missouri fund churches? Edit: Beat me to it with the tax exemption edit.
- mdanger007 4y agoYes: Through tax exemptions, faith based grants, vouchers and other methods.
- thatguy0900 4y agoWe really are in the beggining (or maybe middle?) of something nasty. Reminiscent of things you read in history books. Certainly makes me want to leave the country. Turmoil of this scale in the US is probably something of a worldwide event though, unfortunately.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- thorncorona 4y agoA lot of cultural revolution-esque actions unfortunately.
- esotericimpl 4y ago[dead]
- jqpabc123 4y agoYes, it's called fascism. Government by grifters for grifters and con artists. It can't get much nastier.
- lapetitejort 4y agoAs stated in the article, the initiative is dead in the water, as per the Missouri constitution: > Article IX Section 10. Free public libraries—declaration of policy—state aid to local public libraries.—It is hereby declared to be the policy of the state to promote the establishment and development of free public libraries and to accept the obligation of their support by the state and its subdivisions and municipalities in such manner as may be provided by law. When any such subdivision or municipality supports a free library, the general assembly shall grant aid to such public library in such manner and in such amounts as may be provided by law. I found this with a simple ctrl-f. However, thanks to the MO Library Association for knowing their law and educating people, otherwise I never would have looked.
- booi 4y agoIt’s cute that you think the republicans care about their constitution
- kspacewalk2 4y ago> in such manner as may be provided by law. >in such manner and in such amounts as may be provided by law. Set amount = 0; Set manner_of_support = "spiritual";
- 4y ago
- bsder 4y agoWhen librarians and teachers are your enemies, you are on the wrong side.
- ARandomerDude 4y agoWhat quality do librarians and teachers possess that makes them infallible?
- slater 4y agoknowledge and education, to name two.
- Daishiman 4y agoWho's talking about infallibility? We're talking about literally making librarians a political enemy.
- Forgeties79 4y ago>What quality do librarians and teachers possess that makes them infallible? When did the they say anything remotely along those lines? If you think libraries/educators across the board are an enemy that need to be fought then you need to take a step back and really assess where that mentality is coming from.
- LapsangGuzzler 4y ago“It took some man a lifetime maybe to put some of his thoughts down, looking around at the world and life, and then I came along in two minutes and boom! it’s all over.” - Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451
- jqpabc123 4y agoWhy? Half their constituents can't/don't read. If they did, they probably wouldn't be voting for them.
- LapsangGuzzler 4y agoYou just answered your own question.
- femiagbabiaka 4y agoMissouri has pretty average literacy rates actually.
- Forgeties79 4y agoNo need to resort to insulting an entire state/play into stereotypes when the legislature’s actions are bad enough on their own.
- jqpabc123 4y agoHow can you logically separate the legislature from the voters that elected them? Voters got the legislature they deserved.
- Forgeties79 4y agoIt's one thing to say "their constituents support bad policies and are being cruel," which is totally fair. They are being cruel. They are supporting bad policies. They are often voting in a way that is even against their own self-interest just to "own the libs." But it's another to call them literally illiterate and play into redneck stereotypes, i.e. engaging in the exact same of social behavior they do against their political opponents. What they are doing and supporting is terrible on its own.
- BitwiseFool 4y agoMy rule of thumb is that if something sounds completely evil and it exactly conforms to a political stereotype, there must be more to the story. The article itself is somewhat thin on the details. Would anyone who knows more about the situation be able to give some nuance? I have a feeling this is brinkmanship at play.
- Daishiman 4y agoSometimes it really is though, and the Republican party has been openly performing actions like this straight out of fascist playbooks.
- thepasswordis 4y agoYes, see my linked article elsewhere in the thread. The libraries wanted to make porn available to kids, the republicans said if they did that they would try to pull their funding, and the libraries called them on it.
- Jwarder 4y agoBecause we all know that banning photo books that include that statue of David protects your children.
- thepasswordis 4y agoThe basic chain of events is: Teachers wanted to have books like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Cd5VUhMrF4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Cd5VUhMrF4 available in classrooms (this is on the MO 'banned books' list). Parents (obviously) objected to this, but the teachers/librarians dug their heels in. Due to a loss of trust, parents started demanding oversight into everything that the schools/libraries were making available, and that's how you end up with absolutely crazy things like banning photos of the statue of David.
- saalweachter 4y agoTLDW: Erika Moen (web cartoonist) wrote a book called "Let's Talk About It: The Teen's Guide to Sex, Relationships and Being Human"; in the chapter on sexting she advises teens that pictures they send to people can never be deleted and therefore they should crop out their faces and any identifying birthmarks, etc, before sending one. A concerned parent read this passage at a school board meeting to protest this books inclusion in the library. Hilarity ensues.
- esotericimpl 4y ago[dead]
- msisk6 4y agoThe Missouri GOP is on a roll. They also want to get rid of the sales tax on guns and ammo.
- dole 4y agoBut they're willing to make diapers and feminine products tax-exempt as well. Peak American Compromise.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- thepasswordis 4y agoBetter article here: https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/new-rule-to-block-missouri-library-funding-set-to-go-into-effect-may-30/article_2f11c261-112b-5bd1-8b87-912ff9561adf.html https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/new-ru... >The rule introduced by Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft would block state funding for libraries if they allow minors to access books that are pornographic or labeled as obscene under state statutes So the headline could be restated as: Libraries in Missouri insist on making porn available to children, and lose their funding. In fact, it doesn't even say they can't have porn, it just says that they can't give it out to little kids. As somebody with young kids: can these people, on both sides, please stop trying to use my kids as soldiers in their petty culture wars? I want to be able to send my kids to a school and trust that the teachers there aren't going to try and use that as an opportunity to indoctrinate them. Teach them history, teach them math, and then leave them alone to be children. Here's what *IS* happening as a result of this culture war, and the insistence on making children be the pawns in it: the people who can afford it aren't sending their kids to public schools anymore. What this means is that public schools turn into proverbial ghettos; the places where only the kids who couldn't get out go. That is absolutely horrible. The idea of a public education should be something we're proud of as a society, but we're watching it be destroyed in the interest of a tiny minority of teachers and administrators pushing radical ideologies. The school, or the library, is not the place for this, and this absolutely tiny minority of activists is ruining a public good for everyone.
- kyledrake 4y ago"The banned books include graphic novels such as Batman and X-Men, a copy of Reader’s Digest, works about artists including Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, graphic novel adaptations of classics by William Shakespeare and Mark Twain, the Pulitzer-prize winning graphic novel Maus and other books about the Holocaust, and The Children’s Bible." https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/nearly-300-books-removed-from-schools-under-missouris-sexually-explicit-materials-law/2022/11 https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/nearly-300-books-re...
- thepasswordis 4y ago
- megamike 4y agoSocieties in decline have no use for visionaries Anais Nin
- DueDilligence 4y ago[dead]