(no subject)

[elfs]

It was quite the weekend here at the Villa. At first, it looked as if Omaha and I might be able to wrangle an overnight for both of the kids, giving the two of us the room we needed. Sadly, it was not to be; Kouryou-chan came down with a terrible cold, and we were not going to let her cross-infect her friends, or run around in the cold and wet getting sicker.

On the other hand, this being Kouryou-chan, she continued to show through all the disease an irrepressible amount of energy that allowed her to participate in the conversation at a delicious dinner of beef stroganoff.

Oddly, the conversation was about Iowa, and what had happened there, and what was about to happen in New Hampshire. Kouryou-chan said, "George Bush is evil!" (I'm not sure where she got that idea) and Omaha and I paused to ask her why she thought that. She didn't know. I had to explain that I thought that he (and some of the candidates) had different varieties of evil, most of which flowed from (perhaps unacknowledged, perhaps not) personal principles which always put their personal power, their self-aggrandizement, over any actual considerations.

We tried, and the girls fully participated, in figuring out why this happens. I tried to explain that, as a (pre-Kristol) conservative, I believed that power did corrupt. That there is a belief that a good man, put into power, will do good things and resist the temptations, and that I don't believe that. There must be checks and balances, and that the last few presidents (Clinton was pretty guilty of this too; oddly, it was Gore who kept some of his worst impulses in check) had started to argue that the law didn't apply to them, because they had to know and do things that, while technically illegal, were necessary. (This is hard to get across to an eight-year-old, but Kouryou-chan is the wiser of the two; together, they got different parts of the conversation.) Omaha tried to communicate why we had strong hope for people like Edwards and Obama, and the girls watched us have a polite exchange of views over Ron Paul.

I like the fact that my girls are fully conscious at just the right age and just the right time to watch the election go by. I have to wonder how many other families have conversations like this.

I also have real terror when I read that 31% of Americans cannot name their vice president, and 64% cannot name the president of Russia. Jeez, I can name the PMs or Presidents of England, Germany, France (but not Spain), Russia, China, Japan, North Korea, (but not South Korea), Burma, Pakistan (but not India... huh), Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Israel, The United States, Mexico (but not Canada), Cuba, Venezuela (but no other South American nation), Kenya and Zimbabwe (but no other Africa nation) off the top of my head.

Comments

[codeamazon.livejournal.com]

Interesting...Saturday I had a very nice conversation with your older while the other girls played. The conversation included discussion of religion and power. She seems to have absorbed some opinions regarding our dominant not-quite-state religion that while I don't disagree with, I know they're not truly fundamental to the religion, but to the current people in charge of it. So we talked about how religions, if they gain enough followers, amass potential power, and then people who want power, like our president, will adhere to the religion to wield that power. With the result that it is likely that any religion, however peacable or enlightened, would become a tool in the hands of the powerful if it holds enough captive attention.

Then we talked about the pros and cons of voting for the candidate you prefer from those you feel are electable, vs. a third party candidate you really like but don't think can win.

It was a fascinating conversation to have with a girl her age. She has such a calm observant considering gaze..

[datapacrat.livejournal.com]

(but not Canada)

Don't worry, none of us can remember who that is anymore, either, except that we always want to get rid of 'em.

[bldrnrpdx.livejournal.com]

Elf, most Americans can't name that many*countries*, much less their heads of state.