There is a line from a poem by the 1st century Roman poet, Juvenal, that reads, “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?”. Translated, it reads, “Who will watch the watchmen?”
In other words, the people we elect to run things do so without oversight. It’s not supposed to be that way, but a slow erosion of our checks and balances has brought us to this point. Many of our freedoms are in jeopardy, particularly our right to read and access to books.
Who will watch the watchmen?
Who will censor the censors?
Who will ensure our rights are safe
As society becomes even tenser?
Who will protect our right to read?
Will the first amendment survive?
Who will keep the books on shelves
Or will we be deprived?
Freedom has begun to erode
Our basics rights are now at stake
I worry about our democracy
How soon until it breaks?
Are you worried about our freedom to read and access to books?
RB
Juvenal’s question is timeless because the danger is always within. The decay of freedom never screams; it starts with that slow, silent surrender of oversight and the quiet shelving of inconvenient books. We must become the fierce, unyielding custodians of our own minds. Good one RB🌷
So very true, my friend. Thanks for stopping by to read and reply. 🙂
An excellent poem, Richard. 🙂
Many thanks, my friend!
Love this (hopefully,) not prophetic poem, Richard. Powerful words.
Thank for reading it, Pat, and I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Great and important piece!
The fact that a bunch “important” people with a title can dictate what we can and cannot read, is so weird to me. Indeed, you watches the watchmen.
In overall, I feel very confused by the term “freedom”. You can insult someone in the most horrible way in tweet and call “freedom of speech”, but books that are a bit outside the box get banned.
What are we even teaching our society!
For a long time I have been wanting to include some controversial topics into my posts. But I am also scared. People always you can tell your opinion… but really, can you?
What I always do tell people is that my word is NOT the gospel. It is just an extract from my own experiences.
I think that, for some people, freedom only applies to them. It’s terribly unfair.
I try very hard to avoid politics, but censorship is something I’m strongly opposed to and I feel obligated to speak up. It’s my opinion and others are free to share theirs. That’s a sign of intelligence and respect.
Thanks for commenting, Andrea.
I think having a discussion with someone you know is realistic, inteligent and just a good person is so much easier.
And from what I gathered so far, I doubt we’d have too many disagreements (if any), but if we’d do, it would definitely more like a thoughtful conversation.
And that type of educational conversations, is the “conflicts” we all should have 🙂
Agreed, my friend! Maybe someday we can share a good bottle of wind and enjoy a nice conversation about books.