...And Her Priceless Lesson in Politics
My nine year old daughter came home from school yesterday all fired up. And how. Apparently they had discussed global warming in her Advanced Learners class. I love that she gets so passionate about causes and genuinely cares about important issues. Unfortunately, she hasn't developed the ability to keep it from consuming her. She is urging me to buy 50% more groceries when I go to the store to cut down on the number of trips I make. I already go as rarely as humanly possible, so the hard part would be coming up with even more things to buy as meal-planning is not one of my strengths. I'm afraid the means to accomplish her end would be our family going hungry every other week. And I'm all for bike-riding, however, considering our neighborhood is tucked away between other tucked away neighborhoods, I'm not so sure that it is a practical means to save on gas.
She also informed me that it only takes 5% of the cost, as well as the resources that cause pollution, to produce a recycled can as opposed to a new one. And at this rate, the outer banks of North Carolina (the state we reside in) will be below sea level within 100 years. She additionally mentioned that in my great grand-children's lifetimes the Statue of Liberty will also be submerged and Alaskan polar bears will be extinct. This child has become a spreadsheet for environmental statistics. I haven't confirmed these projections, but she is rarely wrong about these things.
So, she's all impassioned about global warming and how to get the word out about it. I told her that many people are concerned and have been spreading the word. I also explained how many forms of advertising, which is what you are essentially doing by disseminating a message, cost a lot of money. We talked about methods of reaching large audiences such as billboards and commercials. Seeing she had a bunch of pinned up energy, I told her to go implement a creative outlet for her frustration by writing or drawing something that expressed how she felt about it. She came down with an adorable poster she drew advocating good environmental choices. Then I realized a way for to do her little part in spreading her message. She could make a poster that we could put in a window of our vehicle and it could serve as a traveling billboard. I explained that it would be special since it is a child's plea imploring others to save the earth.
Since almost everyone has heard of global warming she couldn't understand why more wasn't being done to stop it. I had to break it to her that there are a lot of people who don't believe it's a legitimate problem. Many people in the government refuse to give it any priority. That's why it is important to vote for people who care about the issues we care about. She said, “who wouldnRt care about it? Who wouldn't care about the earth and the polar bears?” I decided to be frank. “They're called Republicans,” I gently explained. “Do you want to know who DOES care about it?” She nodded up and down. “Democrats,” I plainly stated, then added, “but this is only one issue of many, so we need to know everything a person stands for before deciding where to place our vote. However, the people that care about the environment are most likely going to care about similar issues I do, although it's never that cut and dry. We have to choose the person who will fight for the most issues that are the most important to us.”
Looking puzzled she inquired, “who would be a Republican?”
"Your father.”
"But why?”
"That I really can't answer, but it has something to do with taxes. And probably the war on terror.”
"Huh?”
"Oh, and the Axis of Evil. Yet, considering Republicans are more concerned with allocating money to military strategies than medical breakthroughs, I would say they are the Axis of Evil.”
"Does that have anything to do with the glaciers melting?”
"What? Oh! No. Never mind. I was just thinking out loud. Why don't you go finish making your poster to put in my car.”
And she did. My little, sweet, bleeding-heart liberal. God, I love her.
9 comments:
Excellent! I am so happy to hear that there are still those coming up who care. Sounds like you are raising an intelligent and empathetic daughter. Congratulations.
I loved that story! Although I don't agree with putting a big banner on your car, that's just tacky. :D
Well, I agree on the tacky, but it's a piece of construction paper, not so much a banner. Besides, like me, she's a bit of a perfectionist about things she displays, so she hasn't made one just quite perfect enough yet. =)
Good job Mamma! Your daughter could also get going on recycling projects in school (and I don't mean just collecting cans) but by collecting items still usable, instead of throwing them away, and then donating them to helpful charities.
Sort of a freecycle mentality, but get the kids involved too.
I predict there will be another blogger in your family! Your daughter sounds adorable. Maybe you can scan her poster and post it online. She might get a huge kick out of knowing that the whole world can see her work and hear her message.
BTW, the saying goes: If you're young and you're not a Democrat, you have no heart. But if you're older and not a Republican, you have no brain.
What's your excuse? ; )
FerdC,
Good idea on your first comment!
On the second, all I have to say is that I don't fit either count because I am not older and not a Republican! ;) At this rate, I don't think I ever will be. Technically, I'm not really a democrat, either...I'm fairly moderate with a major lean toward libertarian, which actually fits the motto of my new blog/identity which is a bitter-sweet blend of heart and conviction.
A little cheesy, but kinda cute, right?
Way cute, BE.
Awww, thanks, Ferd...
Since you've adopted initials for my nickname, I guess it's a good thing I ended up going with Virtually Sweet for my pseudonym on my other blog instead of Virtually Dysfunctional!
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