Does It Really "Take a Village"?

My next-door neighbors are a family from Liberia. In speaking to the mother of that family over the years, it has been interesting to hear her talk about the differences in raising children in Liberia and the U.S. In Liberia, children from several families may be over at a neighbor's house all day, and that neighbor is responsible for the children. What is understood by being responsible for the children, is that the neighbor can also discipline other people's children at her house when they step out of line, including corporal punishment. In a sense, that neighbor is acting in place of the parents. I'm guessing this is where the idea of "It Takes a Village to Raise a Child" comes from.

The left in the U.S. likes to use the "It Takes a Village" line in arguing for government intervention in child care and education. In fact, Hillary Clinton wrote a book in the mid-90s with this very theme. There is a gap though, between a private villager trying to help raise the children and having the government run more and more social programs. I've had a couple of experiences recently that I think show this.

Example 1: I have been coaching my kids in youth soccer for the past few years. This fall, I coached my son in grades 3–4 rec. soccer. We were playing a team from a neighboring suburb, and a kid on the other team had a throw-in, just a few feet from where I was standing on the sidelines. His throw-in was not directly over his head, and his back foot came off the ground. The referee blew the whistle, but gave the boy a second chance to make a good throw-in. As almost a reflex, I gave the kid from the other team the same advice I give my team when they have a throw-in (the kid's coach was on the opposite sideline).

ME: "Two feet behind the line; two hands over your head."

KID: "Don't tell me what to do."

ME: "I was just trying to help you make a good throw-in."

KID: "I don't need your help."

Example 2: Today I was at a roller-skating rink with my family. There were two boys there (I would guess that the smaller boy was probably about 8 years old; his brother was about 10 years old) who were breaking several rules of the rink, including skating the wrong direction of the flow whenever it pleased them. The kids all had glow sticks, and eventually these two boys were taking one and throwing it on the rink and then chasing it, indifferent to the other skaters. One time, the two boys slid for glow stick and wrestled for it in front of an oncoming group of kids and adults. I paused as I was skating by to tell them to knock it off:

ME: "Hey, you guys can't be wrestling around like that out here."

YOUNGER BOY: "Why?"

OLDER BOY: "You can't tell me what to do, old man."

Does it need to be said that I would never have spoken to an adult in that way?

The metaphor of "It Takes a Village" is shown to be pointless if the villagers have no part in helping to raise the children. Like in so many other ways, we are reduced to understanding that the "village" is the government, and we are the children.

Is There a Shortage of Peanut Butter Crunch?

I've noticed this a few times in the past, but it has been notable the last two times I've been grocery shopping--the stores are low on inventory of Peanut Butter Crunch cereal. Two weeks ago, I was at a Target, and the cereal aisle contained plenty of regular Cap'n Crunch and Crunch Berries, but there was seemingly no Peanut Butter Crunch. As I was standing there wondering how this could be, a couple came up and the woman got on her hands and knees and reached to the very back of the bottom shelf and pulled out the last remaining box of Peanut Butter Crunch. She gave it to her husband and said, "See how much I love you?"

Then last week, I was at a Cub Foods and again in the cereal aisle. And again, plenty of regular Cap'n Crunch and Crunch Berries, but no Peanut Butter Crunch (at Cub, the Cap'n Crunch cereals are on the top shelf). But having learned from the woman at Target, I reached up and rooted around behind the boxes of regular Cap'n Crunch and was able to find the last remaining box of Peanut Butter Crunch.

So I was wondering if this is a local problem, or if there is a general shortage of this most tasty cereal?

Independence Day Wisdom from Calvin Coolidge

I saw this paragraph from a July 5, 1926, Calvin Coolidge speech linked at Instapundit, and I needed to post it to remember it and to contemplate the wisdom contained in the text.

About the Declaration there is a finality that is exceedingly restful. It is often asserted that the world has made a great deal of progress since 1776, that we have had new thoughts and new experiences which have given us a great advance over the people of that day, and that we may therefore very well discard their conclusions for something more modern. But that reasoning can not be applied to this great charter. If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, that is final. No advance, no progress can be made beyond these propositions. If anyone wishes to deny their truth or their soundness, the only direction in which he can proceed historically is not forward, but backward toward the time when there was no equality, no rights of the individual, no rule of the people. Those who wish to proceed in that direction can not lay claim to progress. They are reactionary. Their ideas are not more modern, but more ancient, than those of the Revolutionary fathers.

Ever Feel Like a Number?

There has been a lot of ink spilled lately regarding the people of Britain voting to leave the EU. I tend to agree with the viewpoint that regular, tax-paying people are fed up with the way the elites lead the country.

Back in the 1970s, there was a whole sub-genre of rock music dedicated to speaking for the common people. Lyrics about their life, work, and play. That seemed to fade as the '80s came along and pop music became more focused on image and slickness.

But the regular people are still out there, and they still want to be heard. I am not the biggest fan of Bob Seger, but I have always liked "Feel Like a Number." It always struck me as a demand to be heard, regardless of your status or station. Think of these lyrics next time you read about how racist and xenophobic people are who voted for Brexit.

I take my card and I stand in line
To make a buck I work overtime
Dear Sir letters keep coming in the mail

I work my back till it's racked with pain
The boss can't even recall my name
I show up late and I'm docked
It never fails

I feel like just another
Spoke in a great big wheel
Like a tiny blade of grass
In a great big field, whoa

To workers I'm just another drone
To Ma Bell I'm just another phone
I'm just another statistic on a sheet

To teachers I'm just another child
To IRS I'm just another file
I'm just another consensus on the street

Gonna cruise out of this city
Head down to the sea
Gonna shout out at the ocean
Hey it's me

And I feel like a number
Feel like a number
Feel like a stranger
A stranger in this land

I feel like a number
I'm not a number
I'm not a number
Damn it, I'm a man

On the Clock

On this day, after the terrorist attacks in Belgium, I think it is worth pondering a quote from Richard Dreyfuss (the actor) via a Mark Steyn blogpost.
"We are on a clock we don't see or comprehend."