Libraries

Libraries are passing out of existence, at least as we have known them. Ask Garrison Keillor.

Garrison Keillor's literary devices have served him (and us) extremely well. Those who thought he was in danger of becoming a victim of his own success have been proved right. But we are victims, too.

As a fellow only a few years younger than Garrison Keillor, I, too, bemoan our culture's voracious appetite for "content." The universal availability of our culture cannot be criticized. That's like saying there is too much breathable air. But, it has its consequences.

We drown in words now. What used to be made precious by its limited availability in libraries is now everywhere. When we got what we wished and worked for - universal access to literature, art, music - we did not fully understand the scope of human ability to adapt to environment.

Something about "evil overlords" has been making its way around the internet recently. There are 100 top things a current-day evil overlord can do; here are the last two:

"99. Any data file of crucial importance will be padded to 1.45Mb in size."

"100. Finally, to keep my subjects permanently locked in a mindless trance, I will provide each of them with free unlimited Internet access."

Drowning in thought, we lose the ability to think. Garrison left home, as he had to, and then turned it into content; we're all with him now.