Chance Litton

My daughter is coming into an age in which she is absorbing knowledge and ideas like a sponge.  This has made me keenly aware that there are many competing ideologies out there among children’s books and television programs.  Most people see cartoonish pictures of animals, cuddly dancing monsters and simple lessons on numbers and the alphabet and don’t give these inputs to their child’s developing mind a second thought.  While I fully expect my children to be exposed to a wide variety of ideas and concepts throughout their youth, I would like them to have a solid base in the principles I believe to be important to which they can compare and contrast new belief systems.  And I certainly prefer that the more radical ideas are presented to them candidly and not through a subtle or manipulative format.

And there are subtle and manipulative messages out there.  Many diverse parties are attempting to bypass parents and transmit their messages to young children for a wide variety of reasons.  As “education reformer” William Ayers of recent presidential election politics fame said at the 2006 World Education Forum in Venezuela, “education is the motor-force of revolution.”  I would like to at least be aware of any revolution for which my children are being recruited, thank you for very much.

The first time I really became aware of the more subtle “educational” qualities of children’s literature was when I came across a child’s book in a doctor’s waiting room.  It was about a gardener and a rabbit.  Having nothing better to do as I waited for my appointment, I read about the gardener’s hard work.  The book showed how he furrowed the ground, planted each crop and cared for the growing plants over several weeks.  In every picture, a mischievous looking rabbit was peeking out at the gardener from somewhere in the background, and I became curious as to how the rabbit was going to play into this whole story.  Eventually, the garden’s vegetables were ripe and the gardener went to bed excited about reaping the fruits of his labor the following morning.  But that night, the rabbit struck.  He frolicked through the garden, digging up and consuming all of the vegetables – every last one.  He engorged himself to such a degree that by the next morning he lay, practically comatose in the middle of the looted garden when the gardener came out and viewed the carnage in dismay.  Then he saw the rabbit – and here is where my jaw dropped.  The gardener just sighed and said, “Well, I guess I’ll have to grow enough for both of us next time.”  WHAT?!  That rabbit just stole the hard earned fruit of your labor, man!  Snare that little thief and have some rabbit stew.  Build a fence to protect your property.  If we were supposed to anthropomorphize the rabbit, teach him how to grow his own food, and then make him pay back what he stole from you.  Despite this little book’s cute pictures of a cuddly rabbit and its seemingly constructive message of hard work and sharing, I think it was a less-than-subtle advert for socialism and the welfare state.

My daughter has recently become a huge fan of a little red monster known as Elmo on Sesame Street.  Sesame Street is a mixed bag; perhaps because it is a proponent of moderation or the Third Way.  Let’s take the feature length “Elmo in Grouchland” as an example.  All of Elmo’s problems start when his friend Zoe picks up his favorite blanket and refuses to give it back right away.  Elmo selfishly overreacts and the blanket gets torn and ends up flying into Oscar the Grouch’s trash can home.  Elmo follows it and they both get transported to Grouchland where a mysterious villain is going about greedily snatching away everyone’s belongings, including Elmo’s blanket.  Elmo and his Sesame Street friends eventually get his blanket back and convince the villain to abandon his evil ways, but only after they convince the Grouches to unite and overthrow said villain.  There are many good messages here, such as helping your friends, standing up for right, and respecting others’ property.  But I think it is expertly crafted in such a way that many viewpoints can feel represented.  For instance, many people probably see the villain as a metaphor for greedy corporations, whereas I see him representing a government that uses force to steal from its citizens.  Nonetheless, I believe the core principles are sound: the right to own property and the virtue of voluntary generosity.

Recognizing my daughter’s fascination with Jim Henson’s Muppets, I turned to Netflix for more of the same.   When I came across Fraggle Rock, a show I remembered watching as a kid in the 80’s, I put it at the top of my queue.   We sat down to watch it together the evening it arrived.  The first episode mainly served to establish the setting and introduce the main characters.  The Fraggles are a pretty care-free bunch.  They play, explore, and confront surprisingly deep social issues on a regular basis.  They don’t seem particularly industrious (one episode is entitled “The 30-Minute Work Week”), but they have a deep sense of duty to each other and – I dare say – a quite libertarian outlook.

Several recurring themes jumped out right from the beginning.  Facing and overcoming fear is probably the dominant educational concept.  Courage, both physical and emotional, is something I hope my children will someday admire and strive for so that’s a positive for me.

The second episode introduced the Gorgs, a family of large, ugly creatures who are perpetually violent towards the Fraggles and from whom the Fraggles enjoy pilfering radishes to eat.  In this episode the mother and father Gorg, who claim to be the king and queen of the universe, capture a Fraggle and insist that he be their subject.  The Fraggle they happened to capture was Wembley, a particularly agreeable chap who didn’t mind showering them with titles and honors.  But no sooner was he captured than his friends mustered the Fraggle militia and marched to his rescue.  Unfortunately, they too were captured.  Being freedom loving Fraggles, however, they refused to bow before the Gorgs. 

While imprisoned the Fraggle leader regaled his troops with a story from his uncle, Travelling Matt, who explores “outer space” – the non-puppet land of human beings.  Travelling Matt had come across a strange spectacle in which humans were leading about flying servant creatures on strings (balloons and kites).  Matt felt compelled to free the indentured flying creatures and sneakily cut the strings.  He noted that the round creatures (the balloons) immediately flew away and escaped, while the square creatures (the kites) immediately flew down to Earth, returning to their masters.  Matt closed with the incredible conclusion, “Some creatures cherish their freedom more than others.”  Whoa.

But that’s not the end.  Eventually the Fraggles escape from the Gorgs with the help of their friend, Wembley, who was happy to be their subject until they were going to kill his friends.  He apologized to his Fraggle friends later saying, “I didn’t realize what they were doing to me until I saw them doing it to you.”  Gobo, the Fraggle leader, told him, “That’s okay, Wembley, sometimes slavery can feel like freedom.”  WHOA!  Who let this stuff get on TV?

In later episodes, the Fraggles learn the dangers of demagogues, the unpredictable consequences of arrogant do-goodership, and the duty of every Fraggle to have a job (even if it is for just for a few minutes a day).  It’s a veritable smorgasborg of Jeffersonian principles and Ron Paul-esque political lessons.  It is nice to know that our side tries to get in some less-than-subtle educational revolutions from time to time.