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I have a teenage son.

I have not seen "1984" in any school book lists for him, or for other people's kids for easy over a decade now.

I almost think it has been black listed for schools, on the quiet, hush hush, wink wink.

It was compulsory reading in year 7 for me in the 80-90s era. So in NSW, Aus, most 13-14 year olds had read it, and knew what "Big Brother" and "more equal" meant.

Nowadays I drop a "more equal" comment and early 20 year olds give me a blank expression, like they do not understand the quote, or the reference I am making.

I wonder how many copies of that book resides in Public Libraries nowadays?

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The Wizard of Oz used to be aired every year on broadcast TV, all the way into the 1990's. It's where the term, "man behind the curtain" comes from. The movie stopped being shown on TV but became a classic to many youth when it was paired with Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon in place of the dialogue. That's all many young people know it for, it's kinda neat how it fits.

But it's an important classic movie because it taught us to understand that rulers use illusion as a means to power and control. And that if we have courage, heart and a brain we can break free from the illusions spun by wizards and sorcerers. We just have to pull back the curtain to expose the weak, pathetic people in power and their machine of levers, buttons and pulleys that create the illusion. A work doesn't have to be blacklisted to hide it from the people. When just nullifying its important message with frivolity will do.

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As to the book, 1984, which is what I meant to tie in to my other reply, it was required reading for me, too, I think 9th grade. We were the class of 1984. The teacher made sure we understood it.

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I think it helped enormously that Pink Floyd's "The Wall" was such an incredibly good album, and the videos too.

Together, they combined to make "1984" a very contempory and easy to understand book/idea/meme.

Animal Farm (the full length cartoon) was aired on commercial TV, at least twice a year back then, often times in "children's time slots".

Nowadays? When was the last time it was on TV?

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Nabbed a copy for my 12 year old at a good old fashioned used book store. Gotta educate our own babes. A Wrinkle in Time by Mary Engel is another good one in this vein.

Last time I called library looking for classics for my son’s summer reading they didn’t have any. The librarian literally said to me, “These are all so old. We get rid of old books so we can have room for the new ones.” I nearly cried. I used to Love libraries. We need to be the librarians now.

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Erasing history. What the entire rational of funding public libraries was supposed to prevent.

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Author Michael Rectenwald has written this novel: Thought criminal.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1943003467

It follows the style of "Nineteen eighty four" but with modern technology elements.

It is also depressing.

I like the "optimistic" ending of "Fahrenheit 451."

Believe it or not, those who survive collapses are happy because they can start over and have many things to do that they could not do before. It's like a prize for having survived.

With the politicization of everything, it will be difficult to find a book like "Thought Criminal" in a public library anywhere in the world.

Since the internet exists, shouldn't public libraries cease to exist? They are not a place to find alternative information to that of the daily news and the textbooks, everything is propaganda everywhere. Any self respecting librarian would burn the public libraries and join the gray areas of the internet, where information needs to be catalogued and be made accessible to the public.

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