Hello ladies and gentlemen,
I’m tired of people not picking up a book for whatever reason they got.
“Oh, I can’t focus long enough to finish them.”
“Oh, it’s too long.”
“Oh, there’s nothing that interests me out there.”
“Oh, books are for nerds.”
Screw you! I think it’s time for drastic measures to correct this issue—issue that might actually only be in my head since people are probably reading more than ever these days.
Without further ado, here’s what I think we should do to make the world great again.
Burn Down Libraries.
Imagine the revolution that would give birth following such a catastrophe. Based on social reaction theories and humankind’s love for mass gatherings—especially to protest against villainous governments—I believe such an event could lead people, even those who don’t read but love to riot, to want more libraries, more books, and more reading done henceforth!
Censorship.
Similar to the previously mentioned idea, I think that if we suddenly went back into an era of censorship—and with the help of social media especially—we’d be able to create another social outcry that will bring everyone to gather and promote reading indirectly. Think about it. The moment everyone has the feeling that their basic rights have been stripped from them, there is bound to be a revolution. Statistics on the reading habits of humankind will explode! And we all love numbers after all!
No more price tags.
Author’s salary? Publisher’s business? Economy? Fuggedaboutit! If there’s one thing that stops many from reading as much or even reading at all—despite libraries out there who lend out books for free but we all know that we’re consumers at heart and prefer owning things—it’s the price tag on books. Get rid of it! Make it all free! Make writing books, sharing books, and reading books, activities that are done out of pure love for them and not as means to survive within a money-grubbing society!
Torture.
Hear me out. If we want others to read but have their willpower in the way of getting things done, I think torture might be a penultimate idea that could work wonders. All we need to do is bring back concentration camps or underground prisons! I mean, imagine how much good we can accomplish with this. We can even make those who SHOULD read (e.g. some presidents around the world) go through such a sentence to really change the world and then, progressively, get people in our social circle to read. Maybe the threat of torture alone could bring ALL to read!
Propaganda.
After witnessing the stupidity of humankind with the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic, I had this epiphanic idea of how to make use of the media to get more reading done by our societies. It’s quite simple. Identify books as the cure to everything, from ignorance to the virus. Leave the rest to everyone out there on social media platforms and whatnot to spread the word and watch as even the dumbest of us all will pick up a book to try and find the answers that they have always been looking for.
Before I run for the exit, I just want to point out that I do not support any of these ideas—or maybe I do, you’ll never know.
I still think it would be cool if there were some kind of magical spell that could get people to realize the benefits of reading but I think that post will be for another day.
For the time being, pick up a book, read in isolation, and enjoy life. Oh, and don’t forget to take care of yourself. Happy reading! 🙂
What do you think?
How can we get others to read?
Till next time,
Roars and Echoes 
OMG! A controversial post from Lashaan! I can barely breathe!
Burning libraries. LOL
Censorship? Hmmm… you might be onto something with this one.
Price tags? While I do a book every now and again (mostly when I travel), I started going to the library more often. I feel bad for authors though 😦 How are they (we) supposed to live?
Torture? Whatever it is, count me in!
Propaganda. ROFL
How do you feel about audiobooks?
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Nothing controversial here! All perfectly sane ideas. 😉
Authors will just have to cut their sleep time to write books and work during the day, or vice-versa. It is their ultimate sacrifice for the joy of readers. 🙂
I won’t hate on audiobooks but I’ll always prefer the written word. There’s much more to learn out of writing than listening.
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*stands and applauds for 10 minutes straight*
Bravo, bravo, bravo!!!!!!! I fully support every single one of these ideas. And what’s more, I am more than willing to use other peoples’ money and other people themselves, to get this done. Nothing says you mean business by getting your hands dirty by making somebody else do the work for you. I am THAT serious. Heck, if I have to tie 10 people to a chair and beat them with rubber chicken so that one of them will go out and tie some slob to a chair and beat him with rubber chicken until he reads a book, I will do it. I will make that sacrifice for this Great Cause.
Oh man, I just about died laughing at this 😀
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Hahahahaha something told me that you’d appreciate these ideas even more than I do. 😀 I’m all in to smacking some sense into people and getting them to understand the importance of reading once and for all. Rubber chicken’ing them sounds like a brilliant strategy to me too. 😀
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I learned the importance of a rubber chicken from playing Rubber Chicken Charades. I still bear the psychological scars of that afternoon…
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Haha I love how brash your ideas are. Though I cant get behind burning any libraries (they are sanctuaries for me), i like that you are identifying a real problem and giving us some creative solutions. Go you!
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They are insane, aren’t they? I think if we try them out on a small-scale population, we could get some interesting results. 😉 Thank you for reading, Jonny! 🙂
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Totally! Very welcome!
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I volunteer to help with the torture!
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Awww ye! International torture methods! Here we go! 😀
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God . You pick up a controversial topic and rehash it make it a beautiful post. So creatively written post .
Hats off ♥️🌝☺
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Thank you so much, Priyasha! I appreciate it. 😀 Hope your exams and whatnot have been going well lately. 😉
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Love this post! I’m with you on No more Price Tags, and Torture!
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Thank you so much, Raven hahaha 😀 Hell yes to no more price tags and torturing people into reading!!! 😀
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Brilliant and I love all those De Niro GIFs!
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Hahahah thanks, Nicki! De Niro is the man! 😀
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This is absolutely brilliant. My friend, you have outdone yourself here haha. Now, I can’t get behind burning libraries cause id be out of a job – unless we burn the others first and have mine be the last one standing? However, people seem to like the idea of rebellion so why not make people rage to get result? 😂
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Hahahaha thank you so much, Lois! I appreciate it a lot. 😀 And I totally understand for burning down librarires. 😉 I can barely stand the sight of anyone dog-earring books… Don’t think I could survive fire with books… 😛
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Ok but that censorship idea is actually great. Great post 😂😂❤
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Hahahah it is, right? I’m sure if we put it to the test, we’d get a lot of results! 😀 Thanks for reading, Anushka! 😀
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Nope. I’m not gonna read until I am threatened by ‘Cape Fear’ era Robert Deniro, unstrapping himself from beneath my Winnebago.
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That’s a tough one. ‘The Irishman’ De Niro might not allow such behaviours though. Don’t think you’d want him to paint your house. 😉
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Amen to that! We need to make people see our way, the way of the readers, is the right way 🙂 Take no prisoners along the way 😉
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Hahahah this is the way! 😉
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How come it’s all about poor de Niro now? Commodus would fit right in, I say 😛
… and maybe you could torture people reading to them Wuthering Heights??? Or, I don’t know, 50 Shades of Grey?? “I’m going to read this aloud to you until you pick up Shakespeare!”
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Doubt I could find five gifs of Commodus for that though hahaha
That’s definitely interesting! Torture to read by reading to them until their read! 😛
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No more price tags seems like a good one to me.. I wish there were library here so that I can read more novels in my city but there aren’t any.. we could atleast sentence people to read by using law but how would we know they are actually reading it. It’s only possible in schools or colleges to force them to read but there are some who won’t even pick books to read there too.. I also love reading and when someone read the book I recommended to them and like it. It’s a great feeling.
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Glad you endorse the idea of not having price tags on books too! It would indeed be such a fascinating world.
More libraries is always a good thing. We just need to make people move their butts to get there next.
I wish we could control their “love” for books too cause, like you said, forcing them to read doesn’t mean that they’re actually reading either. Life is just not easy huh. 😀
Thank you for reading! 🙂
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Welcome.. it’s good to encourage them but everyone has their own likes. Controlling someone is not the solution. If one could control someones mind then I don’t know what they will make people just do not just read …
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***STANDING OVATION*** 😀
Jokes aside, as far as book reading is concerned, I keep thinking of the old saying “you can bring the horse to water, but you can’t force it to drink”.
If people are not interested in books (I know, from our point of view it’s stranger than the idea of little green men…) there is no way to change their minds – I even remember with Lovecraftian horror something I overheard once on the subway, a teenager telling a friend, with great pride, that he never picked up a book. Maybe he was hoping for a slot on the Guinnes of records… 🙄😫
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Hahahah thanks, Maddalena! 😛 And yes!! I know about that saying but I still think there’s a way to convert those horses/donkeys. To be shared in some kind of future post. 😀 Oh man, I’ve always cringed at those people. I try and hide my reaction when I hear them speak about it as if it’s some kind of prize they’ve won!
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And they also ignore that “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.” (GRR Martin). 😉
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I really don’t know what to say to this post. Well done? 🙂 Some creative ideas here, that’s for sure!
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Hahahaah thanks, Todd! I had fun sharing it with y’all! 😛
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Had to double check it wasn’t one of Drew’s posts when I read torture 😂
In non-torture related coaxing; I’ve managed to get two of my friends into reading over the past year. Well, more audio book listening than reading, but they are still consuming stories. Before, they would perhaps read so little they’d not finish a book all year. Now they are constantly asking for my suggestions and one keeps harassing me over the fact that Scott Lynch hasn’t released the 4th book in his series yet … as if that’s my fault 😂 so that’s a small success. I’m working on bringing more of my friends into reading.
Also got my sister into kindle books 🙂
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Hahahaha I must be growing into him over the years or something! 😛
Oh man, I love that you converted friends into reading, especially by adapting their preferences with the medium! And to even go as far as to make one love Scott Lynch’s series!!!! Excellent job, Aaron. 😀
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I absolutely LOVE this post! I think that if we convinced everyone that reading can cure COVID19 as well as make all books free there won’t be a soul in the world who won’t suddenly start reading. This was really a brilliant post, Lashaan!
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Hahahaha thanks, Darina! I’m sure these ideas would revolutionize the game in no time. And maybe accelarate some kind of war too on the side… 😛
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Hahahahaha great ideas Lashaan 😂😂 I’m also pretty sure most of them would work perfectly, which says a lot about our society 😂🙄 Another very effective measure could be to just cancel the Internet, everyone will be so bored that they will start reading again, exercising, cooking etc 😄
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Hahaahh I had fun coming up with them in these crazy times we live in. 😛 Ohhh man, killing the Internet would indeed be a great way to give people the IDEA of picking up a goddamn book to read hahaha
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Bwahahahahahahaha you are evil Lashaan! Yet a genius because this is pure reverse psychology and manipulation at its finest and I am convinced that it would indeed work like a breeze!
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Hahahaahahh thanks, Sophie!! I had fun channeling my inner evil for this one. I too am pretty convinced that many of these could give us some interesting results. 😀
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How much do I love to read? Let me count the ways . . . starting with this post . . . I can’t imagine not being able to read. I agree people should look into reading. Perhaps this stay-at-home situations might start some to pick up a book. This is what it takes! I agree about how poorly handled this whole pandemic has been handled by so many countries. Sorry to get politico here but I blame the Communist Chinese Party for covering it up when it first started and didn’t alert their people soon enough. Stay safe and sane!
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Hahahaah thanks for reading, Karina! I do hope some people will find it in them to give books a chance to impress them.
No worries. 😉 I can’t blame you for ever going nuts about how this pandemic has evolved to this day. It definitely allowed us to show the worse of a lot of countries and their leaders, that’s for sure!
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No more price tag…loved that. Wish that could happen. 😊 Reading should be made mandatory 😂😂. If not read, no food.
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Hahahahah that’s one way to get things done! 😛
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