Kid Peoples Republic
Posted by Richard on August 28, 2007
I dropped by Babalu Blog to see if they had any fresh news about the rumors of Castro's death — no news, but some interesting and intelligent speculation. While there, I spotted this post from Saturday about one of the kids in the new CBS "reality" show, Kid Nation. He's 11-year-old Guylan from Massachusetts, and here's his answer to the question, "What world leader do you admire?":
Fidel Castro is a world leader that I admire for many reasons. Firstly, he led a revolution against a corrupt government ruled by an evil dictator named Fulgencio Batista. Then he went on to lead the country of Cuba by ousting their existing political system in order to instill a socialist government throughout the country. That meant out with the rich and corrupt and in with a more fair and balanced environment for his people. …
There's much more in his CBS Kid Nation bio. I don't suppose this will surprise you: Guylan thinks that George W. Bush is one of the worst presidents ever, that we invaded Iraq for the oil, and that we should be "severing our ties to fossil fuels" in order to save the planet.
I wonder how many 11-year-olds use phrases like "severing our ties," "putting it aside," "foster the skill," and "specify the artistic value" when they write. You think maybe his commie mommy helped him with his responses?
You couldn't pay me to watch Kid Nation. After all, I've never watched Survivor or any of the umpteen other reality shows, and I'm not about to start with this piece of crap example of the genre. But I'm at least idly curious about how many of the 40 kids think that Bush is the worst president and that people are destroying the planet. I suspect a comfortable majority think the former and probably 90% the latter. I think "progressive" parents are much more likely to send their kids off to play Lord of the Flies in front of cameras in the desert, and the kids' political thinking (such as it is) would reflect that.
I'm not curious enough to check out all those bios, though.
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