“The afternoon wore on, hazy and dreadful with damp heat; the sow staggered her way ahead of them, bleeding and mad, and the hunters followed, wedded to her in lust, excited by the long chase and the dropped blood.” William Golding, Lord of the Flies
I don’t exactly know what it is, or why I even watched the first episode of “Kid Nation,” but for some reason I haven’t been able to kick the reality television habit. With close up shots of the children looking at one another as they stood on dry, desolate land, trying to figure out who will take charge, a helicopter flew overhead. Then a voice-over explained to the viewers that four kids on that helicopter were their designated leaders.
Uh—oh, I thought, put a few kids in power and it’s bound to be a recipe for disaster. As the children headed down a dirty, dusty trail in search of a ghost town, the host swore the four leaders to secrecy. He gave them a $20,000 gold star and told them not to tell anyone. Also, it was explained that at their first townhall meeting they’d have to award it to the most deserving kid. After picking four teams, they had a Survivor-like challenge to determine the pay structure for each team—the cooks and the general laborers made the least.
I won’t bore you with how it all played out, except to say, when faced with a difficult decision, the leaders acted swiftly and judiciously, and they did it as a collective whole. The leader of the general laborers didn’t complain, “We have one outhouse for forty kids. If the television is chosen instead of an additional seven outhouses, then we’re not cleaning it any more.” After a quick huddle, the four leaders announced, “We’ll take the outhouses.”
If only it were that simple for our politicians in Lansing. Will today be the day for them to solve Michigan’s budget mess? Will they agree on raising taxes? I’m not holding my breath. Heck, I’m willing to bet those kids on “Kid Nation” decide to kill a chicken long before our state politicians do anything. Now, just when is that next episode?
16 comments:
Jim, Nice photo! :) Maybe today is the day we get higher income taxes!!! I don't want more taxes. --Bro, Ron
This is a job for Superman.
Good grief, that does sound like "Lord of the Flies".
You always look so cute in your photographs, even if you don't smile.
Jim name me one true leader in Michigan Government, it seems as if all of them ame to office by default.
Peace
mark
Enjoyed the read. MW:)
I wanted to watch that show so bad! How clever. I wonder what the screening process for the children was like.. did they need a certain IQ?
Good ole Michigan...
I thought the show was cute and far more benign than anything Golding would have written.
This will seem stupid but I need to ask why you don't answer questions here. But it seems silly to do that, since, you, know....
Hey Jim,
Love the picture! And I will no doubt be watching Kid Nation soon enough. Since I mostly hate children, it should be pretty cool. Kidding! But I'm with you -- I hate how fricking slow everything is with government. It's a nightmare without a lick of common sense.
i saw the commercial for this, but didn't watch it. i may just check it out because of your post.
Yeah, when is the next episode?
I read one article about the rouble it's already caused. Pregnancy and Std's in Kid Nation, the kids also sold all rights to their life stories to the networks. That means if any of the kids try to write an autobiography later on in life the network will get the rights and royalties to it.
Three versions of s-c-r-e-w-e-d.
-P
Everything is too slow -- how long did it take to end slavery in the land of the free, home of the brave? Women "allowed" to vote? Basic human rights for everyone?
Lansing, DC, GM -- a royal mess all around. Plenty for everybody.
Ooorah. Well, one things is happening too fast -- climate change. Lucky us.
It has crossed my mind on occasion that the adults have done such a terrible job that someone else should be in charge.
Outhouses trump televisions any day. But then, I'm not much of a fan of reality TV, although I don't have to share a facility with 39 other people.
I can't believe I missed the show. I've been wanting to watch for weeks. It isn't often that I say this about reality TV shows, but it looks like it'll be pretty good.
Oh, thank the Lord no one mentioned that other car company and trying to bring IT down! --Bro, Ron
Kidding! No contest!
Sounds hillarious--and real!
Which is higher--Bush's age or IQ?
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