Censorship / Responsibility / Freedom.

[James Cayz]

All,

	I've read all the posts, and everything else, and it is all
starting to sound familiar.  We, as librarians, can't come to a
conclusion, on the issue itself.

	My question is: Why Are we discussing it at all?

[ Note, the following is my OPINION, not intended to start a flamefest,
mailbombing, etc.  I simply present my PERSONAL viewpoint here
since I believe it is one that has NOT been presented yet in this
discussion, and I BELIEVE it to be VERY relevant.  In any serious
discussion where policy is to be actually decided, I think this ought
to be brought up.  

It is NO BETTER nor NO WORSE than anyone else's opinion.
Remember, OPINION, not "Right or Wrong".

	Thank You.  
	James Cayz ]


	If our "home" society was what it was 20 years ago, the
children visiting our libraries wouldn't _dare_ go to those sites,
since if they got caught, the librarian would call home, or, wait 
for the parents to walk into the library the next time, and the
punishment that awaited them at home would be more than enough
deterrent.  This held true for looking at the "dirty pictures" in
National Geographic, running up & down the isles, etc.  Note, the
librarian didn't "do" anything, they just finked, err, told our
parents what we were doing.  Same thing happened at school.  Heck, the
1 hour detention was nothing compared to "no going outside to play for 2
weeks" when I got home.

	When I mention this to parents today, they think of the
punishments we had back then as arcane, torture, etc.  Well, sorry, we
didn't have guns in schools, rapes in libraries, etc.  So, our
parents must have done something right.  And, no, they didn't follow
us around all day.  They were probably MORE informed, and made MORE
decisions about our actions and discipline, though, than parents today
are, or care to be.
	
	AND, before any current parent says "Well, I don't have
time...", I'll answer "So, that makes your kid the library's (etc.)
problem?".   Are they (parents) willing to pay _extra_ taxes for the
social services their children "consume"?  Well, since they pay
_less_, due to children tax breaks, than the rest of us, it is obvious
they AREN'T.  And asking librarians to do MORE with the same (or less)
funding, just isn't right.  And to do parenting - Heck, that's what
daycares are for. 

---------

	Additionally, I had an slippery slope discussion that had nothing
to do with content, recently...  Actually sounds good, until the end...

	Suppose the community decided that the librarians were no
longer qualified to adequately resolve the issue of what to block, and
what to allow.

	They form a committee that fairly represented the community,
and lo & behold, they reached agreement on what could be blocked.
Access Rules by Informed Community.  But, there is still some dissent..

	Then, they decide, lets wire the community, and everyone can
vote.  Nirvana. Utopia. Access Rules by Majority Vote.  Everyone is
Happy.

	Except for the minority (5%? 49.9%) that lost.  As well as
the Constitution, Bill of Rights, Personal Freedom, as well as most
the remaining ideas on which this country was founded....

(it sounds much better when it takes 5 minutes, when you discuss the
make-up of the committee, and the voting processes, etc...).

------

	In Short, IN MY HUMBLE OPINION, the issue of "Porn in
Libraries" is just another manifestation of the decay of the American
Family, and no one group, including Librarians, can help it.  So, why 
get pulled under _with_ it?

	*Sigh*
	James Cayz