Something occurred to be out of nowhere today that made me laugh and shake my head.
When I did TeenPact (conservative Christian week-long camp at the state house in Boston) learning about the government, how to make a law, etc. our assignment before we went was to create a bill proposal for anything we wanted to change in the state. Mine was on having bilingual education for all children from grade 1 on, because children learn languages faster than teenagers and way faster than adults so then our entire population would be bilingual. Other students' proposals included making all traffic lights with sensors, funding home schooling, increasing/decreasing traffic speeds, various changes to education, etc. Our first day at the capitol we had to read our proposals and answer questions. One of the leaders asked each of us how our bill would be funded. Almost every student said "With Taxes."
This is where the irony and the element of childish wonder comes in. Every student wanted to change their state for the better...with taxes. We all believed it was possible and that (goshdarnit!) we would find that money somehow. But conservative Christians don't like taxes. But we didn't know better...we hadn't been brainwashed to think that the government was trying to take over all our freedoms (like some of those families think). I wonder if the leaders of our program cringed at the thought of all those taxes...or if they knew there is no hope for those bills anyway. All we wanted to do was make our state a better place, but now I'm sure all those students would write very different bills now that they have been steeped in Republican knowledge and wisdom. I'm sure none of them would increase taxes...if they want to be elected to an office as a Republican.
I feel like the children are right. This state could be a better place. I only wish those strongwilled students I knew then were not who they are now: conservative Republicans who would rather move to Montana than send their kids to public schools. Where does that childish sense of "we can do it" go anyway?
About Me
- Jess
- I dream big, but I have no idea where I will end up. I am a middle school science teacher, but I want to go back to school. I am interested in the broader field of education and the possibilities of alternative education. I am also an artist. I design and build furniture from recycled materials and play around with other forms of mixed media art. On the horizon is traveling, starting a school, and building a dream house that is disguised as a giant art installation.
SWAPS
8 comments:
thats really interesting. really interesting. i wonder how taxes fit into your understanding then? like that seems to be an unconcious answer, taxes, and that had to come from some level of exposure to the system, minus the part were ya'll were told that taxes are bad. hmmm...good thoughts, thanks!
hey Jess:
This is a great story. Somewhere those children had developed an idea of the common good, of community to which we all contribute to help each other. Hmm, maybe they picked that idea up when they listened to what Jesus said. Only later were those words twisted into their opposite and it came to be about caring for only some of us instead of all and especially the least among us.
peace,
Go jet!
Seems like your story depicts an inner child nature that is more generous and socialist....perhaps until it is taught to be self serving, self protective and self righteous....but maybe I am just a aging and biased liberal :-)
I just wish I could be less cynical about WHERE our taxes go. I am not even sure we would need to increase them if we would stop building bombs and solving problems like a big bully on the world's playground... and close those big loop holes for the rich.
PS..on another note.... at the conclusion of the TeenPact thingy which you went to at about age 13 maybe?? .... I still recall being informed that you had discarded your shoes and gone around bare foot in the capitol on Beacon Hill while the other "young ladies" wore their stockings and heels. lol
Well, I am not a humanist, meaning I think children are innately good and care about everyone, but I agree with Barbara...they probably did pick up on the fact that Jesus healed people, fed people, loved people, and that we are supposed to help people less fortunate than ourselves. Conservatives mostly still agree with that...but then throw in the idea that people are poor because of their fault and if there are less taxes the money will trickle down to the working poor eventually, which I believe never happens and some people know it is a lie but use it anyway.
So these children are really pin-pointing the irony of the Conservative Christian story of the nature of things. We are taught to love and give, so why don't we support each other and the well being of the state? Then they are told, no, because if we just make the world a better place than it is taking what I worked for and I deserve; or giving to the poor just makes them lazy; or the government is evil and is trying to take away our rights as human beings to educate our children in our homes. The conservative messages directly given to these kids are outrageous and breed the very force that I sometimes don't think we stand a chance against: a mix of capitalism and elitist political system.
I don't think taxes are perfect either...so much money is wasted...I just think the contrast of the child-like desire to make the world a better place (as I really believe we all wanted to do and truly tried to write bills we wanted to see pass) and the ironic views/lies that reshaped those kids is stunning. It's like a bait and switch...look at Jesus so loving and caring...who now wants us to bomb other countries and take away services from the poor. It's just ironic, in the least.
Oh, and yes. Bare feet all the way! THEY MADE ME WEAR A DRESS ALL WEEK FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! I forgot to mention that! A dress! Me at 13 wearing dress for an entire week! Sunday morning, sure, but an entire week! How gender-biased and stereotypical can you possibly get! And then not to mention that Jon Hill (whose family we were staying with) flipped out when a year later I preached a sermon in church. Women can't preach! Heretic!!!
Sigh...good times of defying the conservatives. but I really do values these experiences...so much to learn from them and so much to reflect back on. And of course a lot of good laughs! Sigh...hehe.
First of all, a story for you- When my grandfather passed away, I gave the homily at his funeral. And I was wearing these really uncomfrtable shoes. So before I went up to the pulpit in a big church full of people, I took them off. I didn't think God would care about my feet that much. So way to go with the taking off of the stockings!
I think it is so true that people don't make the connection between taxes and services. Part of the reason so much money is wasted is because citizens are NOT vigilant enough on where the money is going. I mean, if you want something that is a normal good, like flour, or folders, or onions, you buy in bulk, right? Well, services are also cheaper in bulk, including education, healthcare, etc. If people could just change their thinking and get more involved in where the money is being spent, and how the money is being spent, then we could all get more bulk services and have our taxes spent in a better way!!!
I don't know where Christians got the idea taxes are bad. Because they pay for things they don't agree with? My taxes pay for things I don't agree with, and I am a heathen liberal. So I think people need to realize that taxes are for everyone, and not just for them, and sometimes you have to pay for things you don't agree with.
no...maybe not innately good...but in working with children over the years in a variety of capacities, I do feel children most commonly have a generosity of spirit and lack a sense of superiority etc...that all seems to change as they age.
It is interesting tho that as children kids in conservative Christian churches are most often taught the stories of Jesus and his care for the poor, the sick, the hurting. Then later..as kids get near adolescence, the focus seems to shift to the rules of Christianity, who is IN and who is OUT and an overall take that is more oriented toward judgment and less about grace. Recently I heard someone say that the focus shifts from the teachings of Jesus (the gospels) to the teachings of Paul (the epistles) and with a pretty rigid interpretation of Paul's teachings, too. Maybe the shift in focus is related to preparing kids for those 'terrible teen years" and for dealing with the "world??"
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