Music at the Farmers’ Market

Sunday morning, I bought various vegetables at the farmers’ market, and also a gallon of good apple cider (much better than what you can find at the supermarket). The same two musicians that I posted about on September 21 were there, and I spent some time listening to them. Perhaps the lady would benefit by having someone compose some first rate lyrics for her, but her voice is impressive.

I wrote poetry, mostly in high school and college. Do you think . . .

“Boredom”

I remember, decades ago, reading at least parts of a book by Paul Johnson, in the form of a series of dictionary-like entries at greater or lesser length, including “Boredom,” which he called an insufficiently recognized factor in human events. People rebel, or engage in other disorderly activities, partly because they’re bored. (I hope that my brief paraphrase is not too far from what the author actually wrote.)

It occurs to me that this is at least a partial explanation for what has happened in the United States of America over the past decade. Voters got bored choosing among a bunch of senators and governors, who, whatever their shortcomings, were at least reasonably well informed about public affairs and how the government operated, and instead elected a grifter and reality TV star who entertained them. Some second rate intellectuals and would-be thought leaders got bored with constitutional government, conventional leftism, responsible conservatism, and classical liberalism, and instead came up with the Dark Enlightenment. For some minds, it’s a lot more fun, at least so long as they don’t actually have to live under it (under it, as opposed to on top of it). Some people would rather be subjects of a king or Caesar than citizens of a functioning republic with due process of law; at least it’s a change of pace, and lets them own the libs.

I wish that I had a good solution to the problem, and could get people to gratify their itch for something new by reading a new kind of book, listening to a new style of music, visiting a distant country with different landscapes, food, and architecture, or something of the sort, while treating politics and their civic responsibilities with proper gravitas. Unfortunately, I don’t know how to accomplish this, and, so long as the human race is what it is, there may not be a good answer.

Dubious Advice in Slate

There is an advice column in Slate in which Ms. Nettles responds to a mother who is Deeply Concerned about her ex letting their nine year old child walk two blocks on his own. The advice columnist cites what the American Academy of Pediatrics now says about children under ten walking on their own (they’re against).

I can understand parents being worried about a child being run over trying to cross a street without remembering to look both ways. If children under ten never cross streets unsupervised, I will grant that a few lives may be saved each year. However, we need to consider the costs of not letting children develop a sense of self-efficacy and partial independence. These costs may begin with the unhappiness of not being able to go places and overcome challenges, but they may extend to lives being lost as well. If children who aren’t allowed to walk on their own become at higher risk for depression, which seems plausible, lives may be lost through outright suicide, from seeking refuge in drugs, or from otherwise failing to acquire the skills and self-confidence to deal with life’s challenges.

I walked several blocks to school when I was five years old, and this involved crossing William Street (which was not a busy thoroughfare, but it was still a good idea to look both ways). I paid attention, and in due course I grew up with some sense of responsibility, and some ability to deal with risks and obstacles; I might have done worse if I had not been allowed to walk and cross streets without adult supervision. I did, as I recall, walk to school together with two other first graders from the immediate neighborhood, but I also walked on my own. When I was nine years old, we acquired a beagle, and I took him on walks through the neighborhood; no one thought that this was beyond the capacity of a boy under ten.

I’m glad that there is at least one nine year old out there who has already learned to walk and to cross at least one street on his own, even if his mother is upset about it.