The firestorm debate around books and minimalism
There’s been some great internet debate around using Kon Mari around the house, specifically toward books.
Background: Kon Mari is Marie Kondo’s organization / lifestyle method of picking up every item you own, asking, “Does this bring me joy?”, and sorting accordingly.
This is a gross over-simplification of her method, but it’s essentially how she sorts her books. “Ideally, keep less than 30 books,” she says.
Here’s the krux of the “Is Kon Mari ethically problematic” argument:
If you limit your reading to books that bring you joy, you’re bound to ignore the suffering of others in your choice of what books to keep.
In fact, you’re most likely going to choose topics you like from people who are like you. You’re just reinforcing your own blindness to the world.
If you’re like me, you probably don’t find great joy in reading about your own racism. You probably don’t find great joy in being reminded that your iPhone purchase contributed to slave-like labor conditions in China. You might not keep books like that as joy-sparking fodder.
The debate is a firestorm beyond what I’d thought possible. I originally thought this was a seemingly harmless topic of “own less stuff.” The anti-Kon Mari outrage is everything from “Keep your tidy, spark-joy hands off my book piles, Marie Kondo” to a deleted tweet: “This woman is a monster”.
The pro- Kon Mari camp argues the other way, that the outrage itself is willful misunderstanding of the method and is racist and western-supremacist. One example:
Remember, she called a woman of color a monster. A woman who’s culture is completely different from her own & who was just trying to advocate joy. She called her a monster and now says those yelling at her are awful. https://t.co/earKzmuJOt
Disclaimer: I’m not going to reach a conclusion in this article. I merely want to explore a couple of questions:
Is it as important to OWN thought-provoking books as it is to READ them?
Is it important to actually own books about suffering, or is it enough to read them from the library?
This question is more nuanced than you might think. There are benefits to actually owning books that cover difficult topics. Seeing those book jackets on your shelf might remind you to be a better person. Being reminded of those books means you are more likely to recommend them to friends or loan them out.
On the flipside, I use the library as my personal bookshelf. In fact, I only own about 15 physical books (and some on kindle). Part of this is because in just 1 year, book publication in the US cuts 32 MILLION trees and emits 40 million metric tons of CO2. 😱
I do read the perspectives of people of color, people with disabilities, and women often, but usually not in books. I get them via podcasts and online articles.Articles and podcasts are easier to share than loaning out books, and I always feel bad loaning someone an entire book, knowing that most people don’t have time to read an entire book.
Are the perspectives of women / POC / people with disabilities and other minorities better represented online than in books? I’m not sure. It’s an interesting question for sure.
The advantage of publishing online for populations of less privilege is that it doesn’t cost anything. The disadvantage to both online and book publication is that one often needs connections with influential people to get your work widely exposed. These are usually white males with whom disadvantaged populations have less contact.
Test Your Own Bookshelves
I’m redoing my Kon Mari sorting process to take inventory of what I’ve got, post-“What brings me joy?” I did a few years ago. This is important because the process itself exposes what I find sympathetic and easy to read in a book vs things that make me squirm in a healthy way (that I might have gotten rid of… 😬 )
Of the fiction I own, 2/3 is fantasy or sci-fi. The Magicians, for one. Even the most disturbing books such as The Hunger Games are fantasy.
What does that tell me about myself?
That I’m most comfortable and happy when I’m escaping. And that’s fine to some extent — it’s a healthy coping mechanism. But it can promote willful ignorance.
Of my nonfiction, most is self-help. I’m pretty interested in myself, it turns out. 😭 Again, self-care is healthy, though.
Notably missing: Anything current-events related of a disturbing, tragic, or unjust nature. Authors of color, differing sexual orientation or identity, people with disabilities.
To sum up, my book diet, like my netflix diet, mainly centers around de-stressing and escaping. Make of this what you will.