NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #20/NN_1992_20.iso/spool/misc/consumer/16441

Internet Message Format | 1992-09-11 | 2.6 KB

Xref: sparky misc.consumers:16441 misc.books.technical:1415 alt.discrimination:4332
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,misc.books.technical,alt.discrimination
Path: sparky!uunet!tekbspa!tss.com!burke
From: [e-mail] (Jim Burke)
Subject: Re: Waldenbooks fires staff for refusing to sell racist book!
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Sender: [e-mail] (USENET Network News)
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Jim Burke)
Organization: Teknekron Software Systems. Inc.
References: <[e-mail]> <oneil.716184134@cwis>
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 19:56:25 GMT
Lines: 35

In article <oneil.716184134@cwis>, [e-mail] (Sharon O'Neil) writes:
|> [e-mail] (Dennis P. Harris) writes:

|> First of all, let me say that I don't like the idea of this "Joke-A-Date'
|> calendar, but I think that to refuse to sell it is censorship.  Just because
|> I don't like something doesn't mean that I can refuse to sell it.  If they
|> don't buy it from me, they'll buy it from someone else.  And I'm sure that
|> there's plenty of stuff in a bookstore that might offend me, other than that.
|> I don't like Pat Robertson or Dinesh D'Souza or the National Enquirer but
|> if I don't sell those books, I'm censoring them, if they are available.

While we both agree that the manager was wrong to try to control what his
employer sold, I do disagree with your statement about censorship, or at
least what you seem to imply.  For me, the bottom line here is a business
owner's ability to run his/her own business.  If a business owner chooses
to censor what is sold that is the owner's right.  Just as nobody can
stop someone from exercising free speech, neither can anyone force someone
to promote the speech of others.  If I find a book offensive, I have every
right not to stock it in my store.  I have every right to exercise
any amount of control and censorship I want in the running of my own
business.  If my employees don't want to carry out the policies I have
set, they can open their own store and compete with me.

Folks, censorship is a perfectly acceptable thing.  Discrimination is a
perfectly acceptable thing.  We all do these things on a daily basis.
It is only when the government engages in censorship or when discrimination
is on the basis of race, religion, etc. that there is a problem.
To say that a business owner _must_ sell any particular product, or that
a business _can't_ sell a particular (legal) product is ridiculous.

--

    Jim Burke    "Life is uncertain - eat dessert first!"
    Teknekron Software Systems        ... [e-mail]
      phone:[phone]            ... uunet!tekbspa!burke