Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Pat Schroeder and the Reading Debate
Hmm, so the former representative from Denver (CO-01), is now the President of the American Association of Publishers, and based on a new report, states that Liberals read more books and write more books because conservatives only have “no new taxes” to say.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/21/AR2007082101053.html
What do I have to say to this?
Well, first we have to state that we believe the statistics. Whenever a behaviour is expected (and is viewed as good), I believe it is safe to say that people over-report their participation in that behaviour. For years the “attend church or synagogue” statistics have been generally believed to be overinflated by at 100%. Church attendance in our nation is still viewed as a good and noble thing, so people say they do indeed attend, even if it is not totally true (they would attend, its just, well, things always get in the way).
In the liberal wing of society reading is similarly viewed as a noble activity (I agree by the way). In conservative circles reading of books does not have that similar level of importance, and so, the numbers among conservatives are probably pretty close to accurate. I think it is likely that the numbers in liberal circles are probably inflated by some degree.
But, lets say that the numbers are correct. Does that mean that conservatives don’t write or read books because we only want to hear “no new taxes”? No – in fact the conservative book publishing area has been doing better of late – with a lot of very good books being published, and some not so good ones (can we say Anne Coulter). There are some good books written in the liberal end of society, and some good books written in the conservative end – probably about the same number. Most conservative books are non-fiction, while I do believe that liberals are more well rounded – both fiction and non-fiction. Also, don forget that academics are largely (by about 90-10 ratio) liberals, and academics must read books to stay up on the current research. Nothing is more embarrassing that having your students know information than you are completely unaware of because you have not read.
Me and my wife probably skew the numbers. We are both conservatives, and probably average around 50 books each year by each of us. And let me tell you, there is a great value in reading. But Schroeder’s statements make me want to stop buying books. Does it make sense if you are the president of an organization dedicated to serving publishers to insult a marketplace that represents more than 25% of the population and which is among those who have switched their reading habits away from books and towards on-line content and other media.
Look, there a lot of very interesting and well written books that have come out this past few years and are conservative in orientation. They include:
The Language of God from Francis S. Collins
The Forgotten Man by Amity Shlaes
Crunchy Cons by Rod Dreher
America Alone by Mark Steyn
The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright
So, there is clearly a market for books aimed at conservatives. Perhaps someone should remind Pat that liberals have not had a whole lot new to say for quite some time, unless you count books like Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot or God Delusion.
Look, if I was the American Association of Publishers, I would ask her to issue an apology very quickly. But, maybe the real issue is that a growing number of books are published by publishers outside this group. Either way, insulting the marketplace is only a good idea in one situation – in a truly Communist nation where no one has a choice anyways – perhaps Schroeder really does yearn for the old Soviet Union.
For another great take on this, read what Jonah Goldberg has to say on today’s NRO.
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MDg0Y2Y4NDQ0MzA4YzhiMGM1M2NmMzY1Zjk2YmQzM2E=
