107 lines
5.7 KiB
Plaintext
107 lines
5.7 KiB
Plaintext
Why I Steal from Libraries
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BY: DIzzIE [antikopyright 2007]
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To say that you steal from the library is to be met with mortified
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disbelief followed by swiftly rising umbrage alongside swelling
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plumage as the moralist, smelling the blood spilt by the perceived
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violation of some moral maxim, puffs up to thrice zir size and swoops
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in for the always laughable impartment of Higher Moral Values. How
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can you steal from the library, have you no soul?
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Here then is a brief text outlining a few reasons why I steal from
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libraries. Any one would be sufficient on its own to warrant a theft;
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the fact that more often than not more than one applies in any given
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situation or library should be all the more cause for concern over
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the esteemed edification of the library as some sort of illusory
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bastion of knowledge as opposed to wretched dungeon of the repression
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of information, which it most certainly is in this day and age.
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I. I don't like to be tracked or surveilled. No one has a right to
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know the names of the books I read, the movies I watch, the music I
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listen to, the animals I fuck, or the people I eat. Libraries keep
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intricate records of all of the books you check out or have checked
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out in the past. Libraries with CCTV are even more troublesome, as
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are the libraries that force you to undergo searches prior to
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entering/exiting the library. This is unacceptable to me much like
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search engines keeping logs of searches you make or credit card
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companies keeping logs of shit you buy, or say government agencies
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keeping logs of every inch of movement you make, every flush of your
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toilet. The fact that Section 215 of the US Patriot Act specifically
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states that the pigs can subpoena your library records (as well as
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any other "tangible things") is obviously troubling, but hardly
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surprising. That some libraries have 'fought' a government request
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for records here and there is immaterial. The problem is that the
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records exist in the first place, not that some agencies obviously
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want to get their hands on them. I don't want to be in any fucking
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records, to have to worry about the possibility that my habits may be
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passed on to whoever for whatever motive, therefore I steal the books
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instead of checking them out.
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II. I don't like not being able to take some books out of the
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library. I see no reason to restrict some books to the musty confines
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of an archaic institution, to be able to be read only in the
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establishments the library deems to be fit for said impartment of
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knowledge. I like to read what I want, whenever the fuck I want,
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therefore I steal the books instead of checking them out.
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III. I cannot trust the libraries to take care of the books I want
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to see preserved. Sorry, libraries do not take better care of books
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than us smelly laypeople. I've been to many a library and in every
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one I've found evidence of abuse. One example seen only last week
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would be several boxes of newspapers stacked right next to the
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fucking radiator! Other cases would be books that have been
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desperately in need of new binding, books covered in dust and filth
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attracted by the glue overflowing from apparently botched binding
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attempts, books literally soaked from leaky water pipes right above
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the shelving, and on and on. I have even found boxes upon boxes of
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uncatalogued books stowed away in the bowels of the library's cellar,
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apparently deemed unfit for public circulation. If the complaint is
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that the libraries do not have sufficient funding to take care of
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their books, I fail to see why I should be asked to provide that
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funding when I and perhaps others are perfectly capable of taking
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care of the books without monetary compensation. I don't want to see
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treeware tomes destroyed from neglect (at least not before I get a
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chance to digitize 'em), therefore I steal the books instead of
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checking them out.
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IV. I don't like paying for information. All information must be
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free. Libraries charge for information by way of taxes, late fees, or
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(as in the case of, say, university libraries) by charging a fee for
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access in the first place. I like my reading to be constrained
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neither by price nor by time, therefore I steal the books instead of
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checking them out.
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V. I want to disseminate information as widely as possible, this
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desire to free the world's knowledge extends to the digitization of
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books. Librarians tend to go ape shit when they see you scanning a
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book in the library, as they do if the binding is slightly damaged
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from a thorough scanning session before you return the book, perhaps
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even demanding that you pay some atrocious fine (which leads us back
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to IV). I want to share information across any illusory borders or
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human-made boundaries, therefore I steal the books instead of
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checking them out.
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I support free universal access to information without the
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impediments of surveillance or payment. Libraries, as they currently
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exist, are in direction opposition to these goals, therefore I steal
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the books instead of checking them out.
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In short: if you are a librarian, go motherfuck yourself.
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Oh, and if you're interested in a few tips on how to easily go about
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stealing books from the library see the 'free books from the library'
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section of Stop Paying for Shit.
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Finally, in anticipation of the aforementioned repugnant knee jerk
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reactionism of you, the moralist, I'd merely like to point out that
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nowhere in this text do I preclude the possibility either of stealing
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the books back to the library after you're done with them, or of
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setting up your own free libraries using stolen bounty; think that
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one over for a little bit.
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-
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Comments? Get in touch: xcon0 @t yahoo \/d0t/\ c||o|m
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(or call +1 (610) 887-6072)
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For more knowledge check out www.rorta.net and www.dizzy.ws |