SUPPOSE CHILDREN RAN THE GOVERNMENT!

While every country has a “government,” not all governments are equally effective or desirable. Historically, kingdoms and dictators have been the norm. Less than 300 years ago, the idea of government by the governed —the people governing themselves—arose. And that began the first modern Democracy, the United States. From there it spread all around the world.

Now the framers of the US Constitution knew one thing that seems to be missing today. Namely, to have an effective democracy you have to have an educated populace. You have to have people who understand democracy, how it works, a literate population which reads, studies, thinks, and who keep up with issues. You need people who can actually think and reason! Without a thinking population, you can’t have a healthy democracy.

Democracy is endangered when there are too many people who are ignorant of these things. Then they become like a mob— wanting whatever they want, wanting it now, thinking short- term, and not thinking in terms of the well-being of the whole population. This, however, describes the way children think, not adults. And when the thinking of citizens is reduced to that of childish thinking— you have a problem. We have a problem. That’s because childish thinking is preeminently characterized by what we call the Cognitive Distortions.

When you have non-thinking and childish thinking citizens, then not-so-ethical politicians arise who seek to get them on their side and get their votes. How? By promising to give them more and more stuff. They think the secret to success in getting votes is to promise to give more stuff away. It’s the Big Give-Away Strategy! This kind of thinking goes back to the days of the Romans— where the Senate satisfied the population by giving them bread and circuses. Today, many politicians seem to be operating from the assumption that “the more I can promise to give away, the more votes I’ll get.”

Now to put this childish mentality on steroids, all someone has to do is add the idea, “You deserve it.” In fact, to amplify that, “You are entitled to it and if anyone says otherwise, they are depriving you of your inheritance.” What does this do to people? If you are not a critical thinker, it puts you into a state of desire and hope. It then becomes an expectation and after that, a demand.

This is one of the aspects of socialism that some on the extreme left are opting for here in the United States. The focus is on what people deserve and are entitled to. You deserve a job, an

interesting job, a job that pays you very well. You deserve free college and university entrance. You deserve and are entitled to a social environment where you do not see or hear anything that conflicts with what you believe in.

This as patronizing— if you are a thinker. You recognize that it is speaking to you as if you were a needy child. Government is your fondling parent—here to protect you from adult responsibilities. Ah, yes, responsibilities. That seems to be the word missing today in the mouth of politicians. J.F. Kennedy’s call, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country” is now really out-of-date. Who talks that way today? Yet healthy democracy needs men and women who can think for themselves and take responsibility for themselves.

Now if children ran the government, what would society be like? What would you hear in the news and from press releases?

People deserve and are entitled to what they want, cost is not a consideration. The government should control what can and cannot be said, they should legislate what you can say. There should be no “freedom of speech.” The government should control the economy so that everyone is getting a fair share even if that means taking from the rich and giving to the poor. We should not have inequalities. And it’s the government’s job to make all things fair.

Of course, now we would have Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm.