Hot take: People keep saying 'The Lorax' is banned for being anti-logging, but that's not the full story

In my experience, the bigger issue in some districts was the book's portrayal of corporate greed as a whole, which made some groups uncomfortable. I saw a school board meeting in Texas where a parent specifically called it 'anti-business propaganda'. Has anyone else seen bans focused more on the economic critique than the environmental message?

3 comments

3 Comments

finley_bennett282mo ago

Yeah, "a simple book making a simple point" really hit me. I used to roll my eyes at people getting upset about this stuff but honestly, this whole thread is making me rethink it. The book is literally about not wrecking everything for money, and if that's too scary for some folks, that says more about them than the book.

the_charles3mo ago

Banning a kids book about a fuzzy orange guy seems like a waste of time. People get worked up over the wrong stuff. It's a story about a guy who chops down all the trees, and it's bad. The lesson is don't do that. If someone's scared their kid will learn that greed is bad, maybe they should look at themselves first.

rowan_butler933mo ago

Yeah, the "look at themselves first" part from @the_charles is the whole point. Getting mad about a clear anti-greed story just shows you're worried about the wrong lesson. It's a simple book making a simple point.