And Big Bad Jon, I don’t really know who would need to see pornography in a public library. I’m not crazy about the idea of sitting next to some furiously-masturbating homeless guy or a posse of giggling thirteen year olds at the computer terminal. It could be disruptive, and if you were to masturbate in public I’m sure I’d be very distracted. I would want to ask you all kinds of questions – why have you chosen this as your personal mode of expression? For whom is the performance intended? Does your literal masturbation mirror the masturbatory character of any artistic act, and does it represent a cutting remark you impart to society and your peers, all self-labeled “artists,” or is it more of a self-reproach for the hubris to assume you might possibly create art that’s worthwhile for other people? Etc.

In all seriousness, pornography could be disruptive as heck, so my defense of pornography is, admittedly, impractical, but philosophically I really do believe that libraries of all places cannot limit freedom of information.

If you are ever interested in hearing an argument for videogames as a legitimate part of our culture and a medium capable of artistic expression, let me know.

My form of performance art is to masturbate in public. I am glad that I can find some porn for free in libraries and a place to express my artistic bent.

Free at last!

The libraries have to provide access to porn and videogames because they are genres of expression. You may view them as lower forms of art, but there is nothing that objectively differentiates porn and videogames from novels, magazines, plays and DVDs. The library provides access to everything in order to provide

“the best of human culture and make it available for the masses,”

because the alternative would be to have librarians (or worse, politicians or priests) selecting what citizens are allowed access to. In short, libraries must provide everything – including, gasp, pornography – because “the best of human culture” is defined by aggregates and averages of opinions from the whole of that culture. Any other system would be elitist, impractical, and irrelevant to the course of history.

We probably agree on a lot of what I just said, but your word choice – “Internet porn and videogames,” “the masses,” – make you sound prudish, narrowminded and silly, just like the groups you’re criticizing in this post. I doubt they are your views, but there is a danger here of phrasing your arguments in the terms of the far right.

In short, referring pejoratively to “porn and videogames” is hypocritical, since I’m sure you’ve indulged in both things yourself, as every member of the human race naturally pursues some form of sexual simulation and game-playing, even if these activities are not facilitated by the internet. It also weakens your point that library content should be uncensored, as you’re applying value judgments to the information you provide.

My only criticism is the AL’s constant drumbeat of “videogames are bad.” I think that videogames – and entertainment materials in general – have a place in libraries. What I think that libraries fail to do is to try to use those entertainment materials as a springboard to other intellectual pursuits. For example, if your library has a weekly program for teenagers to play “Guitar Hero” or “Rock Band,” that would be the perfect time to work on building an appreciation for music, music history, biographies, etc. If the teens don’t take to it, that’s their problem and their loss. (Horse, water.)

I also think that the Political Compass website is extremely helpful, and I strongly recommend it to everyone. It’s at political-compass.org. It’s also on (oh, gasp) Facebook. Basically, the idea behind it is that the traditional ideas of “left” and “right” don’t really explain enough – there’s a social left/right and an economic left/right. You can be an economic conservative and a social liberal or vice-versa.

I also enjoyed many of NJ’s comments, aside from the canonizing of Andrew Carnegie. I’m a native of the Pittsburgh area and a Scotsman by heritage – if anyone would idolize him, it would be me. As a student of history, however, I know better. I’ve written about this in the comments of previous posts here on AL’s blog.

Last point: calls for civility are wonderful and should be echoed far and wide. If you haven’t already, check out the Coffee Party, a group whose mission is to promote civility in political discourse.

What books would you recommend?

Thanks!!!