Knowledge is power.

Although various civil liberties are continuously being taken away and challenged, making society, especially marginalized groups, feel powerless, even the United States government cannot deny the power of knowledge. And that power is just what they are afraid of.

With the possibility of the abolishment of the Department of Education and the growing list of banned books, our nation’s established systems are clearly threatened by a literate society.

The attempts to regulate the public’s power is seen in the way our politicians continue to restrict seemingly simple attainments of knowledge, reading being one of them.

Various books, especially those considered classics, are being ripped from library shelves and school curriculums, seeing that they challenge certain political viewpoints and encourage independent thinking.

While these books are not entirely illegal to read or own in all states, they are continuously being challenged and removed from school curriculums and library shelves, ultimately becoming harder to access.

However, with the current political climate, unimaginable policies being implemented, and policies that were once unfathomable to be overturned, who knows what will become of the challenged books.

Reading is a privilege, and we have a possibly limited time to have access to these books before there are any further changes in our government. I urge the public to gain as much knowledge as possible, before it is too late.

Here are a few recommendations of banned and frequently challenged dystopian novels that have been removed from school curriculums due to their portrayal of government systems that are seemingly synchronous to ours.

Although dystopian novels are often dramatized versions of our current political realities, we can still use their messages to be prepared for the possibilities they allude to and aware of our liberties that are in jeopardy of eradication.