The Coolest 8 Year Old In The World

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The Coolest 8 Year Old In The World

Submitted by Rob Richards on Sun, 12/24/2006 - 11:35am.

Hat Tip: Sky Cosby

I loved this and had to repost it.

Kids are people too.

Rob Richards's blog
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I saw that too.

Submitted by Rick on Sun, 12/24/2006 - 11:46am.

Very cool.

When you think of the long and gloomy history of man, you will find more hideous crimes have been committed in the name of obedience than have ever been committed in the name of rebellion. -C.P. Snow

Whoa

Submitted by Norm on Sun, 12/24/2006 - 11:55am.

I'm waiting for the riot to start now.

And with that, Merry Christmas!!! I'm heading to my parents place and probably won't check the blog much. Don't eat each other while I'm gone.

I love this kid! And

Submitted by OperaGirl on Sun, 12/24/2006 - 4:44pm.

I love this kid! And don't even get me started on how we treat children in our society!

"She grew on him like she was a colony of E.Coli, and he was room-temperature Canadian beef."

And the programming of that child

Submitted by OlyCop on Mon, 12/25/2006 - 12:06pm.

wasn't/isn't child abuse?

"The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." Saint Augustine (354-430 AD).

How could it be considered child abuse?

Submitted by Rob Richards on Mon, 12/25/2006 - 12:38pm.

Certainly not because she has different opinions than you. You use the word programming, please explain. Is that how you describe how you've raised your children? Perhaps you're being a smart alec, and I haven't had enough yerba matte today.

"Only a fool lets somebody else tell him who his enemy is. -Assata Shakur

Most of what she is saying likely

Submitted by OlyCop on Mon, 12/25/2006 - 12:58pm.

has been fed to her. Most, kids wouldn't have that kind of opinion on many of those things, nor would they use some of that language. So whether parents or who knows whom, have instilled those ideas in her or choreographed her film.

How is what has happened to her any different than what the Nazi's do to their children, or Jim Jones, David Coresh, the Iraqi people do with their children about the West? Yes the Nazi/Iraqi message is one of hate, although her message certainly isn't about love, kindness or acceptance.

Yeah, a little bit of smart alec, and a little bit of encouraging debate. I thought the vid was funny, but a little sad. Is that something you would encourage your elementary school age child to act out or say?

"The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." Saint Augustine (354-430 AD).

Well, are they getting paid for it?

Submitted by Rob Richards on Mon, 12/25/2006 - 1:21pm.

Seriously, I think there's a good possibility that this is an actress reading lines, in which case it's cute, and does no "harm" to the girl. If these are actually her views, then she's a very smart little girl, beyond her years. I still don't see what's "wrong" with anything she's saying, in fact, I agree with her on a lot of it.

I wouldn't encourage my son do to anything, unless he showed some desire to do it in the first place. As a parent, I see myself as an advisor, not a judge or commander. If my son made a video like this, I'd be happy that he found a way to express himself. If I disagreed with things he said, or thought that he was "wrong" (morally or actually), I'd point him to resources and let him make up his own mind.

"Only a fool lets somebody else tell him who his enemy is. -Assata Shakur

childhood programming?!?

Submitted by enpen on Tue, 12/26/2006 - 12:53am.

Education is precisely that: childhood programming.

Personally, I think what I witnessed in thismovie is a crime.

"Anybody who doesn't know that politics is crime has got a few screws loose."

I wonder how funny

Submitted by OlyCop on Mon, 12/25/2006 - 7:40pm.

you would have found it if she was calling Clinton an idiot, and talking about the homeless as bums that need to get a job, and, well you get my point. You find it funny because you agree with it. So much for the occasional tune-ups you all give me here about sensitivity. I guess sensitivity only goes one way on Olyblog.

To have a child say and act the part like whomever did, is wrong, IMO anyway, nuf said.

"The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." Saint Augustine (354-430 AD).

So...

Submitted by Rick on Tue, 12/26/2006 - 12:23am.

you're reduced to defending Bill O'Reilly, eh? That's gotta be painful.

Richard Dawkins makes the case in his recent book, The God Delusion, that religion is child abuse. Would you care to include that in your definition? Or is it just "programming" on the left?

Fuck Clinton

Submitted by Rob Richards on Tue, 12/26/2006 - 1:45am.

Clinton can go to hell.

Like I said in my response, if I disagreed with my son I'd present him with more information, but I'd respect his opinion in the long run IF it was an informed opinion.

"Only a fool lets somebody else tell him who his enemy is. -Assata Shakur

Well it took longer than I

Submitted by OlyCop on Tue, 12/26/2006 - 7:14am.

thought. We got to 11 comments before we had a negative comment about the Christians. You guys are predictable, a little slow, but predictable. Too much egg nog must have slowed you down. :)

"The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." Saint Augustine (354-430 AD).

It is not polite...

Submitted by Rick on Tue, 12/26/2006 - 7:33am.

...to ignore a question: Is Sunday school also programming, or not?

Anything

Submitted by The Fire Inside on Tue, 12/26/2006 - 8:00am.

Involving teaching humans who lack rational capabilities is "programming."

As enpen mentioned, public education is programming, also.

EDIT: I finally watched the video. Do people honestly think she wrote all of this on her own? At best she maybe had this idea which an adult put into proper English. At worst an adult put her up to it.

More than likely she's simply repeating Mom and Dad's daily rant.

woah there

Submitted by enpen on Tue, 12/26/2006 - 8:31am.

"As enpen mentioned, public education is programming, also."

I said that all education is programming. And children do not lack rational capabilities. That's patently false.

"Anybody who doesn't know that politics is crime has got a few screws loose."

The fact that you think

Submitted by Rob Richards on Tue, 12/26/2006 - 10:31am.

The fact that you think children lack rational capabilities tells me you haven't been around many children. At times, kids are more rational than older people.

To a worm in horseradish, the world is horseradish.

Except...

Submitted by The Fire Inside on Tue, 12/26/2006 - 11:02am.

At times, kids are more rational than older people.

Except when it comes to the judicial system, right?

Except when it comes to most

Submitted by Rob Richards on Tue, 12/26/2006 - 12:46pm.

Except when it comes to most of the aspects of our society. Children are treated like they don't have brains or imaginations or intuitions by most of the "grown-ups" they run into. Perhaps because adults feel like they are under the thumb of god and government, it is their natural reaction to exert unjustified authority over their children.

To a worm in horseradish, the world is horseradish.

I'm all for treating children as being rational...

Submitted by The Fire Inside on Tue, 12/26/2006 - 6:05pm.

In which case, they need to be held to the same standard that I am, especially in the eyes of the government.

Well I lost an entire post again

Submitted by OlyCop on Tue, 12/26/2006 - 8:44am.

"The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." Saint Augustine (354-430 AD).

I had a lot to say

Submitted by OlyCop on Tue, 12/26/2006 - 8:48am.

but will just respond to the programming comment. I have to agree with Enpen, all education is programming. My bad for using that term. A more correct term for what happened with that little girl is exploitation.

"The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." Saint Augustine (354-430 AD).

Ok.

Submitted by Rick on Tue, 12/26/2006 - 12:27pm.

Now that we agree all education is programming, then let's ask the next question: Do we want to program children with ideas for which there is no evidence? I.e., religious doctrine? If you can believe that a baby can be conceived without there being a biological process of egg meeting a sperm, then why should anything be true? (I mean, if you believe that god created the universe, then why go to the doctor at all? If you're sick, isn't god the go-to guy in that situation? What do doctors know, if god made everything?)

The things we know about the world through science come from being able to rule out certain explanations. We can show that one story is true, and another not. Now look at this in relation to modern science: falsifiability doesn't really mean anything if anything can happen. It kinda takes the bite out of the scientific method if you don't believe anything is falsifiable.

Here's where it becomes a real problem: if you believe that god created the earth, and everything else, then it's god's responsibility, not mine. I can drive whatever kind of car I want. Doesn't matter. Let god sort it out.

But, if religion (and god) is something invented by humans (more likely an innately supported belief resulting from several cognitive mechanisms including intentionality and social awareness), then I am responsible for the earth, and everything else. Thus, I have to make choices about how I affect the world in order to insure its survival.

I'd rather that children were programmed to believe true things. I think the survival of the planet depends on it.

Sorry guys, it's wrong. If

Submitted by Norm on Tue, 12/26/2006 - 9:31am.

Sorry guys, it's wrong. If she was bitching about the Muslim religion you all would be jumping around shouting "racism!!" and beating your chests like a bunch of apes. Instead it's about Christianity and that makes it ok. You can't tell me she came up with this crap on her own, she was put up to it.

Second, I grew up going to church, sunday school, catholic grade school etc. and ended up atheist for quite a few years. I never felt brainwashed, and by the time I hit 12 and my history teacher tried to tell me that dinosaurs never existed I told her she was full of shit. Maybe I'm not receptive to brainwashing, I don't know, but I think instilling some values (the actual values of Christianity, NORMAL Christianity are not bad) cannot be a bad idea in our society at this point.

That's my $.02

I agree

Submitted by enpen on Tue, 12/26/2006 - 10:15am.

"I think instilling some values...cannot be a bad idea in our society at this point."

I agree. Instilling some values regarding our ideal social norms is an excellent idea for our society. And maybe value #1 on that list? Empathy.

"Anybody who doesn't know that politics is crime has got a few screws loose."

Your making a big assumption here...

Submitted by Rick on Tue, 12/26/2006 - 11:46am.

...about this being particular to christianity. Same goes for all the major religions. Empathy is the key, and the sooner people get it that values like this exist independently of religion, the sooner we'll all be a lot better off.

You can look at a piece like

Submitted by Pattytoo on Tue, 12/26/2006 - 12:23pm.

You can look at a piece like this and see it from a few angles.

1. Entertainment. In which case, I suppose it succeeds if it entertains. Since it is a type of entertainment that is based on aggression, it will most likely entertain people who agree with the side that is the aggressor in this case. I don't think that kind of entertainment is new or shocking really, and it is often exploited by people on every side of an issue. It is a sort of "us versus them" bit of chest pounding that tends to get some frustration out. It does, of course, make differences in opinion more salient and will further alienate anyone who is obviously falling in the "them" category of that type of speech. So, you have to pick your audience intelligently for this sort of entertainment to fly and leave people feeling good and/or productive. I tend to laugh a lot at that sort of entertainment when I'm on the "right" side of it, but honestly I'm not sure it is really a good thing in the end.

2. Artistic piece. The young girl might be a budding actress. She may have chosen to work with a specific writer. I have no idea. It would be interesting to know. It is a fairly decent piece of amateur acting out of a young kid though, since those lines are very artificial for someone her age to deliver. If it was meant as a performance piece rather than an editorial, I think it succeeded. If it was meant as an editorial, I think it wasn't very believable. This could be due to the child being a young performer unused to a camera, or it could be because someone gave her the lines to say. I'm leaning toward the latter. I'm thinking that the girl may have shown off her talents a bit better if allowed to express her own views in her own words, or by being supplied with more age appropriate script materials.

3. Political statement. While I happened to agree with most (if not all) of what she had to say on the subject, I think this was a poor way of putting out a political statement on a subject. It will "reach" and resonate with folks who already agree, while it will alienate and concern those who do not. I think it is more productive and clever to find ways to include people and show them what we have in common, and then use a reasonable tone in a caring environment to tell them where you are coming from (hopefully by sharing factual statements, invoking empathy, and promoting reason). I think you "win" when people identify with you and understand you respect them and are listening. Then they will listen, because you are a part of their group and care about them.

These are a few ways to look at it, but there are undoubtedly more.

Wow, that was really peace on Earth and Good Will towards man of me. I think I need to go take a nap now. :) I have been overtaken by my own sense of inner mellow.

Patty

Thanks Patty,

Submitted by Rick on Tue, 12/26/2006 - 12:46pm.

Clear thinking is hard work. You absolutely deserve a nap.

nice!

Submitted by enpen on Tue, 12/26/2006 - 1:04pm.

"Anybody who doesn't know that politics is crime has got a few screws loose."

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