Of Scandal and Censorship

The Anarchist Cookbook

 

     A book filled with how-tos on everything from counterfeiting money to

building plastic explosives, "The Anarchist Cookbook" is near the top of the list of

 

most dangerous books. Writer WIlliam Powell, once a manager of a book-store

 

in New York City, wrote the tale in a time in which there was a lot of anger

 

regarding the vietnam war. The Cookbook was his protest.

 

     "I wanted to publish something that would express my anger. It seems that

 

I succeeded in ways that far exceeded what I imagined possible at the time" 

 

(Powell). Expressing his anger is exactly what he did, but in a way that did not translate well to future generations. Powell expresses, in a article for The

 

Guardian, that what he catalyzed was enough to spread terror through his heart. "The Cookbook has been found in the possession of alienated and disturbed

 

young people who have launched attacks against classmates and teachers" (Powell). 

 

     Protected under the First Amendment, Snowball Publishing continues to publish The Anarchist Cookbook against the wishes of its original

 

author. William Powell is now a teacher and co-founder of Next Frontier: Inclusion, an organization with the goal of enlightening schools as to the special needs

 

of children with developmental disabilities such as dyslexia, autism, and adhd (Powell). Recognizing that his work of anger in a time of war and strife has no

 

place in today's society of school shootings and mass violence, Powell pleads for "The Anarchist Cookbook" to "quickly and quietly go out of print."

 

    While this paper does carry in its ink many opportunites for destruction, this book as a whole carries a lesson that is most important to remember.

 

Literature is a tool of great power in influence. While it is up to the authors to be responsible with this tool, it is up to society as a whole to teach our

 

children the knowledge and compassion neccesary to see the dangers of this world and counteract them with acts of beauty and kindness. 

                                    

                                                                                                                                                               -Jesse Scott