[bl_valance]

It is absolutely insane that we are allowing the destruction of culture in this manner. Can people not leave works for what they were? What has happened to today's society that everything has to be sunshine and rainbows, they can't enjoy anything without being enraged by something they don't agree. Should we only consume media that we agree with? What a boring life that is.

[eesmith]

> What has happened to today's society

Our society has been doing this for a long time. My beloved Hardy Boy childhood books were actually the edited version - edited to remove racial stereotypes, says Wikipedia, and to target a different audience.

(Investigating now, the changes were extensive! Compare the 1927 "The Secret of the Old Mill " https://archive.org/details/the-secret-of-the-old-mill/page/... with the 1962 version at https://archive.org/details/secretofoldmil00fran/page/n15/mo... .)

The 1981 revised edition of "How to Win Friends and Influence People" was edited (posthumously) to remove sexist stereotypes, like replace "insurance man" with "insurance agent", and drop the section on dealing with one's wife.

> Should we only consume media that we agree with?

There are many reasons to edit a book. The Hardy Boy books were edited to generate profit from an existing franchise.

The editors of the 1981 edition of "How to Win Friends and Influence People" argue that keeping the 'quaint and dated' references weaken 'the important message and overall impact' of the book. https://archive.org/details/howtowinfriendsi0000carn/page/14... .

Neither particularly fit your description of "everything has to be sunshine and rainbows".

[mikrotikker]

It's not all that different to ISIS smashing the Iraq museum to pieces.

[slg]

Destroying a one of a kind physical object is in fact very different from releasing a new edition of a book with a few words changed.

[hulitu]

Are you sure ? Changing only one word is enough to change the meaning of a sentence.

[Gud]

The original work is still there.

[Khaine]

Only for as long as the books in circulation exist.

[sgu999]

Most editors doing this keep publishing the original version as well

[6510]

But if we change a few words we can have you say something else entirely. By the 4th modification you could be advocating for the destruction of physical objects.

Meanwhile people discussing the topic question if the book is improved. This has nothing to do with the topic. Assuming we've change your words, have you say something else, should there be a discussion pondering if we've improved you?