Thus a community may demand of its public facilities that the are in conformance with those arbitrary standards the community chooses for itself. And that can include banning books for any reason whatsoever.
To do so is not an impairment or imperilment of individual liberty, for any book may be bought or borrowed or owned or shipped by anyone. Only from the inventory of the community library is the book banned.
It also means a community may ban things like sleeping in the library, ban the use of the library for viewing pornography, etc., or ban the copying of copyright material from its copiers. It can even ban folks who cause a disruption by their appearance, action or smell -- making some special allowance for such poor souls of the community who cannot without great cost or burden correct that appearance, or smell. This is all common sense. I heed not silly recent judicial rulings, because long term common sense must prevail or the nation fails.
Good post.
What if I’m the mayor and I go visit the library. I’m concerned about porn, have a discussion with the chief librarian who works for me, and ask how we’d go about banning porn from the library shelf if we had to.
The chief librarian adopts a holier-than-thou attitude with me, and begins giving me the eyebrow treatment while he indignantly and arrogantly proclaims the freedom of thought.
My tendency would be to drop him with a shot to the jaw.
Instead, I keep my own counsel. I go back to the office, and I begin getting rid of someone who obviously is not going to be supportive of my leadership.
Why do I do it?
Because he acted like an a$$; not because he might have had a differing opinion.