Of Course Books Are Dangerous

So apparently some of my fellow YA authors are doing this promo/charity thingy where you're supposed to pose with a book and tag it #booksarentdangerous, and then they'll donate a book to charity. And by the way, buy their book that has the word Dangerous in the title, because it's not actually dangerous.

I am in favor of both literacy and selling books, so I don't mind either of those aspects of the campaign. But I really hate the idea that books aren't dangerous.

First of all, the idea that books are good for you is one of the things that is killing literacy. People don't want stuff that's good for them. That's why ice cream is a thing.

But more importantly, any great art is dangerous.  Books are one of the most dangerous of art forms. It's not a coincidence that totalitarian governments and fundamentalist religions want to keep a tight rein on reading; reading requires you to interpret, which requires you to think, and that's an inherently dangerous thing. (though, as Funkadelic reminds us, it ain't illegal yet.)

Books, and fiction in particular ,also foster empathy, and empathy is one of the most radical, dangerous things to feel. The established order pretty much depends on a lack of empathy in order to function smoothly. But if you start thinking that those thugs getting killed by police, or those kids getting killed in drone strikes, or the people working like slaves to assemble your electronics are actually people, you might start questioning the systems that keep telling you they're not. 

And that's dangerous. 

TV, movies, and video games can all be awesome, but all require the input of a ton of people and the investment of tons of money, and so they're just more likely to be comfortable and safe than a book. 

So don't settle for safe. Be a badass. Go read a book.