Banning books is not liberal; liberalism is about giving people the power to express themselves, and trusting in community pressure to ensure people don’t go too crazy. Conservativism, OTOH, is about controlling people so they can’t even think about doing crazy things in the first place, which is why they ban books.
It certainly is possible for a liberal to occasionally want to ban a book, in the same way that it is possible for the very conservative Chuck Hagel to oppose Bush’s occupation of Iraq. Real human beings are complex; in practice, most people are a little bit conservative, a little bit liberal. But the CONCEPTS are very distinct, which is why liberals must condemn other liberals when we act illiberally.
Banning books is not liberal; liberalism is about giving people the power to express themselves, and trusting in community pressure to ensure people don’t go too crazy. Conservativism, OTOH, is about controlling people so they can’t even think about doing crazy things in the first place, which is why they ban books.
It certainly is possible for a liberal to occasionally want to ban a book, in the same way that it is possible for the very conservative Chuck Hagel to oppose Bush’s occupation of Iraq. Real human beings are complex; in practice, most people are a little bit conservative, a little bit liberal. But the CONCEPTS are very distinct, which is why liberals must condemn other liberals when we act illiberally.
And that’s why the Palinoid head explodes.