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skonen_bladesThe voting age was lowered to five years old.
Politicians started literally dressing like clowns.
Along with lowered taxes, they promised:
Later bedtimes.
A cookie in every jar.
No child going without a story.
A massive elementary school restructuring campaign.
Ball pits and slides, fire poles and pillowed halls.
Colours so neon that the 80s felt drab.
Mandatory art classes twice a day.
A bigger say in the curriculum of their school.
(Which is why ‘dragon’ is a language elective now.)
Debates raged:
Harsher punishments for bullies versus stronger emotional outreach for them.
More autonomy for children versus extra support for quality guidance and stewardship
‘Listen to my no’ versus reasons for doing difficult tasks
Math vs forget math
Politicians would talk to the adults
Take a pause
And then talk to the children
Children felt like they mattered
Some of them for the very first time
Overnight, childcare support bloomed
Daycares popped up like mushrooms in offices, neighborhoods, and companies
With the names of politicians across the front awning.
The low-quality ones quickly spelling doom for that name.
Children were brought to deeper troughs of education
So they could make better decisions about the issues
Toy companies became some of the biggest lobbiers
Hugs and ginger ale were classified as medical supplies
Politicians put on puppet shows to explain the issues.
Adults pretended
(condescendingly)
to watch the performances with their kids for fun.
(but actually)
Some of those adults were understanding the issues for the first time
And the kids
Pumped so full of care for the earth and animals
Voted in droves
for the greener candidates
for robotics and space travel
for atmospheric renewal and waste treatment
Of course the politicians lied
Of course they did
But no one hates like a child
The raw purity of a double cross
(No takebacks)
Was the loss of a vote
The only problem was that
The memory of a child
The distractability of a child
Was still no different than most adults
The world was improved
A little
Made sillier
A lot
Made snugglier
Made more colourful
Made safer
Made weirder
Of course it was too little too late
And we died out anyway
But it took longer
And it was way more fun
tags
Politicians started literally dressing like clowns.
Along with lowered taxes, they promised:
Later bedtimes.
A cookie in every jar.
No child going without a story.
A massive elementary school restructuring campaign.
Ball pits and slides, fire poles and pillowed halls.
Colours so neon that the 80s felt drab.
Mandatory art classes twice a day.
A bigger say in the curriculum of their school.
(Which is why ‘dragon’ is a language elective now.)
Debates raged:
Harsher punishments for bullies versus stronger emotional outreach for them.
More autonomy for children versus extra support for quality guidance and stewardship
‘Listen to my no’ versus reasons for doing difficult tasks
Math vs forget math
Politicians would talk to the adults
Take a pause
And then talk to the children
Children felt like they mattered
Some of them for the very first time
Overnight, childcare support bloomed
Daycares popped up like mushrooms in offices, neighborhoods, and companies
With the names of politicians across the front awning.
The low-quality ones quickly spelling doom for that name.
Children were brought to deeper troughs of education
So they could make better decisions about the issues
Toy companies became some of the biggest lobbiers
Hugs and ginger ale were classified as medical supplies
Politicians put on puppet shows to explain the issues.
Adults pretended
(condescendingly)
to watch the performances with their kids for fun.
(but actually)
Some of those adults were understanding the issues for the first time
And the kids
Pumped so full of care for the earth and animals
Voted in droves
for the greener candidates
for robotics and space travel
for atmospheric renewal and waste treatment
Of course the politicians lied
Of course they did
But no one hates like a child
The raw purity of a double cross
(No takebacks)
Was the loss of a vote
The only problem was that
The memory of a child
The distractability of a child
Was still no different than most adults
The world was improved
A little
Made sillier
A lot
Made snugglier
Made more colourful
Made safer
Made weirder
Of course it was too little too late
And we died out anyway
But it took longer
And it was way more fun
tags