Nils replies to me :
>This is a rather dangerous assumption to make. Through
>attrition, the number of copies will decrease. One day
>somebody might burn the last copy. I wouldn't want to be
>that somebody.
How many copies have been burned? A dozen or so? Between two publications. I suspect far more have been thrown out, damaged, lost in the post, etc. The last copy may one day end up in my collection, where it is as safe as the Wyrm's Footnotes, works in progress, etc. that it sits beside. And I'm not (by a long way) the only collector who has a copy. Last year neither DoD nor Eldarad were burnt at Tentacles, because they couldn't find a copy...
>Also, as Stefan mentions, the book burnings throughout
>european history make the act very loaded.
Which is what gives the protest its power. Protest without a certain shock is easily ignored.
>Protest is legitimate, but destroying the thing you protest
>against is a dangerous path.
True. But supporting a national football team is a step on the path that ends with racism and xenophobia. Doesn't mean my support for England makes me racist, though. There are differences in degree, attitude, intention here that are important. Drawing the line too soon ends up with ridiculous (IMO!) positions such as the USA where freedom of speech is protected, but burning a flag gets you arrested.
To my mind, the better question is whether the protest is legitimate any more - a decade after the decision we are protesting.
Cheers,
Graham
-- Graham Robinson graham_at_... Albion Software Engineering Ltd.
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