All the world will be your enemy, Prince with a Thousand Enemies, and when they catch you they will kill you...
...But first they must catch you.
There were two events that for some reason (1) Stuck in my memory and (2) for some reason popped in my head recently, both were so long ago that some details are quite vivid, however some are quite vague (I was young).
The First Event
The first was an instant that occurred at some sort of day care/kindergarten or maybe creche as the place wasn't busy with kids, however was overseen by a woman. I guess that I was maybe 4-5 years old. There was a large area where one could play with toys, and as it turns out heaps of toys.
I was interested in the blocks, of which there was many, and I proceeded to use the blocks to construct (at least as I saw it) a ship. There was a few other kids, there not many, and therefore plenty of room, blocks, toys, whatever you could imagine, it was for all intents and purposes, kid utopia.
Now for me the construction of the ship was the motivation for my game, so as you could understand I was particularly annoyed when this annoying kid (lets call him Dennis) decided to come and knock down my newly constructed ship. Now I was (not anymore) a pretty quiet passive kid, so I proceeded to re-build the boat and re-locate to an area away from Dennis The Menace. Obviously this was never going to work and the inevitable happened, now this is where my memory is vague. While I can't remember what occurred, I do remember the feeling it produced. It was the; "FUCK OFF and get your own blocks" kinda feeling, (which I couldn't articulate at that age) and may have prompted the authority to come over. In my head, I was thinking; "you gonna get it now punk, find your own blocks biatch". However, to my astonishment (as in, I felt astonishment, and bear in mind I am going on how I felt) I was promptly told that the blocks were for everyone and that I (as in me) had to learn to share! How about someone learning the non aggression principle? There was no arbitration, there was no whats your side of the story, nothing.
There was no reason, douche bag couldn't go build his own ship of blocks (the place was nearly empty) or the woman insist that the kid leave me alone. But thinking back this could have never happened, because it was the moral policy that sharing had to be enforced by the authority, even though resources were available for everyone. They could not go against the groups idea of morality. In their defense, it was there blocks I was playing with, so what could I do.
It felt wrong to hear this, and felt somewhat condescending, was she trying my patience on purpose? needless to say there was no further ship construction that day, or play as it were, as this fuck wits goal was to get his nose into what ever I was doing, and now with full backing from the authority. Yeah so much for "socialisation huh". I was pretty quiet so retaliating was not part of my dispute resolution tool box, at that stage. [edit] it is interesting that the will to construct was quenched, being the result.
The Second Event
I suspect that this was caused by my parents, taking us to a movie about cute bunnies, called, "Watership Downs", I would not have been much older than in the first instance.
Again the details are vague, but I knew something was not right and oddly felt compelled to find out what it was; the images that stayed with me was the one at the top and the following one (and of course the closing song):
It was not until much later I understood the themes of self-determination and liberty within the story. [edit] The field turning RED eluding to an ominous future.
It is funny that I keep these two incidents and for some reason reminded of them recently. Maybe because I am looking for a reason why people choose authoritarian movements over freedom, and while doing this, my memory is telling me, hey this where you started, maybe they started from the other side. Maybe they are Dennis, who have successfully achieved power over others using the state.
It is also the earliest instance of such feelings that I can remember, for some reason, the feelings seem somewhat natural, as if that is the way it should be; the authoritative decision requiring an administrator and force felt so un-fair (even then) almost as if the programming had begun.
The Moral Of The Story
If you want to play with blocks, make sure you have your own.
Be careful when you force a kid to share, it may not have the effect you were expecting. [edit] It is likely that they percieve you as an authority.
Be careful what you let them watch, there are strong adult themes going through these movies which may not be what you think. In this case Watership Downs is not really hiding its themes, However they have come along way with film making for children.
LB
[Edit]
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