Kids are not evil. Their parents are.
I was traveling to school, listening to music peacefully. At some point, a little blond girl with beautiful blue eyes, accompanied by her mother sat in front of me. The girl was eating a big bag of grapes - more than she could ever eat. She was smiling, clearly of satisfaction. That's when she noticed me.
She offered me a grape. I refused politely. What happened next astonished me: the little girl offered grapes to every single person sitting in the bus. She did not care if she person was black, Asian or Caucasian. She offered the same way, smiling in a very adorable way. But that isn't what surprised me. What her mother did next angered me. She hit the child on the head and told her to eat her grapes and not to share with strangers. The child seemed to understand something that her mother didn't. She clearly didn't need all those grapes and was willing to share with the hungry. Instead of encouraging sharing behaviors, the mother stopped them. She is teaching her child property. Now this wouldn't be a problem. We were all told at some point in our lives that strangers are dangerous.
The problem is here: how are we ever going to get to the Anarchist society if we keep teaching our kids to consume more than they need; if we keep telling our kids that accumulating wealth is the way to live? In an anarchist society, sharing would be encouraged. The child would receive encouragement and praise from her mother. The child would know that if she doesn't need something and someone is in the need, the best thing to do is to share.
I don't blame the mother though... We were all stopped at some point. Even I was stopped. I should have accepted the child's offering. I refused for hygienic purposes, which is a whole other debate.
I was traveling to school, listening to music peacefully. At some point, a little blond girl with beautiful blue eyes, accompanied by her mother sat in front of me. The girl was eating a big bag of grapes - more than she could ever eat. She was smiling, clearly of satisfaction. That's when she noticed me.
She offered me a grape. I refused politely. What happened next astonished me: the little girl offered grapes to every single person sitting in the bus. She did not care if she person was black, Asian or Caucasian. She offered the same way, smiling in a very adorable way. But that isn't what surprised me. What her mother did next angered me. She hit the child on the head and told her to eat her grapes and not to share with strangers. The child seemed to understand something that her mother didn't. She clearly didn't need all those grapes and was willing to share with the hungry. Instead of encouraging sharing behaviors, the mother stopped them. She is teaching her child property. Now this wouldn't be a problem. We were all told at some point in our lives that strangers are dangerous.
The problem is here: how are we ever going to get to the Anarchist society if we keep teaching our kids to consume more than they need; if we keep telling our kids that accumulating wealth is the way to live? In an anarchist society, sharing would be encouraged. The child would receive encouragement and praise from her mother. The child would know that if she doesn't need something and someone is in the need, the best thing to do is to share.
I don't blame the mother though... We were all stopped at some point. Even I was stopped. I should have accepted the child's offering. I refused for hygienic purposes, which is a whole other debate.
