In this post, my cousin wrote about Mayor de Blasio’s “One Book – One New York” initiative which urged Gothamites to vote for a work of literature to all read together. The nominees were anti-American screeds by the likes of Ta-Nehisi Coates, Chimamamda Ngozi, and Junot Diaz.

Commenting about the post, David Randall of the National Association of Scholars (NAS) calls “One Book – One New York” a college common reading — a book given to all incoming freshman to read before they arrive on campus– scaled up to a city level. He is right.

NAS provides an analysis of college common readings here. They constitute an exercise in progressive propaganda.

The five books de Blasio wants to inflict on New Yorkers are mostly drawn from the college common reading lists. Moreover, says Randall, New York City uses the same tactics as are used at the college level: choose five books that create “community”, make sure they’re all progressive, and make sure your favored authors are well rewarded with royalties and lecture fees. In the case of the colleges, using tuition and alumni dollars.

Randall concludes that what New York City is doing is no more or less objectionable than what 350 colleges and universities nationwide are doing, although New York obviously is operating on a larger scale. He adds that, once again, what starts in college doesn’t stay in college.

I see one additional distinction between the common reading program of New York City and those of colleges and universities. New Yorkers can, and most do, blow off de Blasio’s reading list. Incoming college freshmen can’t afford to. Thus, the college common reading program strikes me as more objectionable than de Blasio’s