Scandal

  There has been a scandal in British retail book-sale business lately, but the scandal is, contrary to popular opinion not that WHSmith has found lots of controversial novels among their titles, but that they have chosen to remove those titles from their assortment. They have exposed themselves as eager supporters of censorship.

  When you read their press releases and the explanation they give their customers, on and off their website you find one bizarre and sick statement after another. Yes, it safe to say they are practically lined up. There have been many cases like this throughout history, where mainstream citizens impose their narrow morality on everybody else. It wasn't acceptable then and isn't now.

  An oppressive society always blame art in order to distract people from what those in charge should be blamed for and this is certainly such a case. Established retailers and publishers have constantly supported this vile practice.

  A guy by the name of Jeremy Wilson in the online magazine Kernel eagerly call for censorship, and doing so without a single original and free thought in his head. He speaks of filth. What he writes is filth. Find themes most objectionable in people’s eyes, distort the truth, make things up to support your tyranny of the mind. The true scandal is that people like him and those eager beavers at WHSmith and elsewhere have any influence what so ever. The hysteria grows, as it often does in cases like this and all independent titles, those not published by established publishers come under scrutiny, which is exactly what the established publishers desire. I wouldn't put it beyond them to have planned and actually orchestrated this.

  There are lots of talk about ending censorship in foreign countries, but very little of ending it here, in the west, where it is just as bad. It's about money, of course, but also about power and influence.

  Censorship is wrong, without exceptions. Controversial titles should be hailed as a great thing, not removed from public eye. It should be proudly displayed.  It is all the boring and bland mainstream titles that should be thrown on the garbage heap where they belong.