Analogies

L. Neil Smith tries to get to the bottom of a pathology:

Suppose you were fond of books . . .

You liked their leather bindings, their fancy endpapers, the way they speak to you of other times and places, the way they feel in your hand.

You even liked the way they smell.

Naturally you were aware that books are dangerous. They give people ideas. Over the long, sad course of history, they've resulted in the slaughter of millions — books like Uncle Tom's Cabin, Das Kapital, Mein Kampf, even the Bible — but you had too much intelligence, too much regard for the right of other people to read, write, think whatever they please, to blame the books themselves.

Now suppose somebody came along who agreed with you: books are dangerous — and something oughta be done about it! Nothing you couldn't live with: numbers could be stamped inside them, a different number, not just in each kind of book, each title or edition — but in each and every individual book.

"We can keep track of 'em better that way — it'll help get 'em back if they're stolen." [. . .]

Originally written in 1997, but even more applicable today. There's more.