Horton Hears an Opportunity to Profit Off Manufactured Outrage

By Shannon Melero  |  March 9, 2021 | 8:32pm
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Horton Hears an Opportunity to Profit Off Manufactured Outrage
Image:Scott Olson (Getty Images)

As Fox News continues to remind everyone, six books by Dr. Seuss were pulled from circulation by the fake doctor’s estate over racist depictions and language. The titles of these books are largely irrelevant because the big three, Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, and Oh the Places You’ll Go are all still for sale, and children of this generation are not exactly clamoring for Dr. Seuss’s deep cuts. But still, there is a wave of inexplicable anger over what is being touted as the cancellation of Dr. Seuss—a man who is literally dead and could not care less what happens with his books. But adults are dumb and instead of letting six books that they themselves had no plan to read wither and die, some are selling the last remaining copies of these books for thousands of dollars, according to the Toronto Star.

The Star reports that private groups on Facebook were advertising the usually $12 stories for $500. On Amazon, some books were listed for $3, 184.50 because one cannot put a price on reclaiming a forgotten part of one’s youth. The ludicrous price tag on these books though has less to do with nostalgia, and more to do with defiance. A professor of consumer ethics and behavior told the Star, “It is possible at least some of those who are now trying to buy Dr. Seuss books might actually agree the books are racist but are seeking them out in a misguided attempt to assert their freedom.” The professor calls this “reactance”: a response from people who feel that their personal freedoms have been violated in some way.

If some people who enjoy racist art feel so strongly about it that they need to part with thousands to assert themselves as free thinkers, then by all means make it rain in all of Amazon’s dark places. But any day now our cries for help will be answered and the earth will be obliterated by alien life forms and I can guarantee that none of them will care about the moral stand someone took in 2021 over the right to own a copy of And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street.

 
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