From: leopold

To: [email protected]

Subject: On advising a young kid

Dear Dr. Block,

I couldn’t think of anyone better to ask for advice on this subject, please accept my apologies for this uninvited action.

I’m at a loss on how to best approach teaching my 9 yo kid under the following situation.

My wife had taken the kids at a pastry shop and they had some cake etc. At some point, she asks the kids if they are ready to leave. The older one (9 yo) said yes but that he *had* to drink the whole of his water cup before leaving.

After a bit of discussion, she figured out that this was because “we must not waste water” and “other kids don’t have things we have, so we shouldn’t waste them”.

As you can imagine, I got very pissed off. Not really about the school, but about myself. I’ve obviously not done a good job on this. I can argue with an adult on this topic using hard cold reason, but my usual approach seems too foreign when it comes to discussing this with a kid.

I realize now that my issue is I’m not really comfortable discussing emotional issues (kids dying in Africa etc) with my kid at this age. I really want my kids to enjoy being kids, not to be aware of the ugly realities of the world – there’s a time and place for that but later. But this desire that has fueled my inaction seems to be resulting in a future Waterloo moment.

I assume other libertarian fathers have had the same issue trying to teach their kids. I won’t ask upon your valuable time to seeking any kind of expository response. I would be extremely happy if you could point me towards any relevant resource/people you may have in mind that could help me create a plan of action.

Thank you so very much,

L

Dear Leopold:

Thanks for your kind words

I don’t know if this will help you, but I had a similar experience when my daughter was about 10 years old. I forget what the issue was, but my daughter told me something along these lines: “Daddy, you’re environmentally incorrect.” I was about to correct her, and give her the libertarian perspective on whatever issue it was, but my wife told me, in effect, to shut up. Her reasoning was that if I corrected my daughter, and she agreed with me, then, if she mouthed off to her teacher and fellow students, they’d all hate her, and did I really want to do that? So, I shut up. Unhappily, my daughter turned out to be a pinko. However, my son is a libertarian. I’ve been with my wife for 50 years now, and I think I’m glad I shut up then.  She is a wise woman.

So, my advice to you is to shut up, with your 9 year old son. Wait until he reaches the age of reason (15? 16?) and then give him the libertarian view.

Sorry, I couldn’t be of more help to you. It’s difficult enough to be a libertarian without the added difficulty of how to deal with our children, when they are brainwashed at school.

Best regards,

Walter

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