Capitalism At Work
Earlier this week, to commemorate the 117th birthday of the man known worldwide as Dr. Suess, the foundation that controls the copyright and publication of his books announced it would no longer publish six of them due to what they found to be offensive and racist portrayals in the children’s stories.
And capitalism being what it is, luckily, the move not only led to more people wanting to know more about what was being banned, but the books are hot items…so hot that eBay is trying to ban their sale on that platform.
As of early this morning, though, they haven’t been too successful. I found used collections of Suess books…including one seller with the full set of six now-extinct books…but much as I’d like to have them for the principle of the thing, I can’t afford it.
The book “And to Think I Saw It on Mulberry Street” alone fetches more than $150…but that’s a new listing, and no doubt the bidding will go higher. One optimist has four of the size listed for $1,399.99, or best offer…no takers yet.
In the mid-1980s, Dr. Suess himself made a personal appearance in Cedar Rapids, and I got a new copy of “The Cat in the Hat” signed by the author. Maybe I shouldn’t admit that I still have it, for fear of the book police searching my home.
The law of unintended consequences rears its ugly head again…the Suess handlers could have simply stopped printing the books without fanfare, and no one would have noticed. But in the attempt to be woke, they told us how wonderful they were…and now more people know about the books they tried to stop than ever. And they’re not the ones making the profit.News/Talk 1540 KXEL · Iowa Politics — Fri. Mar. 05, 2021
