Fahrenheit 451

I remember reading Fahrenheit 451 in High School, which is a book about government regulation of reading. In this story, there are fire departments, but instead of extinguishing fires, they would confiscate books and burn them. 451 degrees Fahrenheit is the temperature at which paper catches fire.

When I read this story, I thought this was an interesting concept, but it would never happen here in America. I have recently noticed that, for some years now, there has been a shift from reading traditional paper books to reading electronic books and magazines. This has had an impact on our economy, such that bookstores, which have been a staple in our communities, are closing down. Traditional paper books are now ordered online from Amazon and other online book sellers.

I have no issue with technology, which streamlines our lives and makes them more efficient. But while this is happening, many have lost the desire to hold a traditional paper book and even magazines while reading. I think this is a travesty. Paper books and magazines are becoming increasingly difficult to buy off the shelf, and we are becoming more dependent on electronic versions of the written word. Will we one day have difficulty getting them if the Internet becomes regulated or governed? Will we have rations on what we can read in the future if someone controls the one way we depend on buying books? Is a modern version of Fahrenheit 451 already taking place, and don't we even recognize it?

Today, we have become so dependent on technology that if our electricity is interrupted by a storm, we have no idea what to do. We are back to being cavemen, sitting in the dark, waiting for someone to fix our way of life. Why have we lost our self-dependence and have become so dependent on our government and civil authorities? Have we crossed a threshold of total dependence, and can the way we buy and trade be easily regulated?