Getting Ahead of the Age of Reason
What do Sean Spicer, General Michael Flynn (ret.), Jack Posobiec, Dan Crenshaw, Mike Waltz, Dana Loesch, Dinesh D’Souza, and John Solomon all have in common?
If you guessed they were all January 6th supporters or TFG idolizers, you would be correct, but they also have one basic thing in common: they are all Kid Lit authors.
At least they are now.
All of the above and more belong to the new constellation of stars being offered by Houston-based Brave Books. Brave Books proudly offers “Pro-God, Pro-America children’s books.” They tout their books to be “faith-based children’s books teaching American values for a brighter future.”
Brave Books features such titles as “The Island of Free Ice Cream,” which instructs children “that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is,” and “Fame, Blame and the Raft of Shame,” which teaches children “the dangers of cancel culture.”
I kid you not.
Childrens’ books, especially those thin ones with colorful illustrations, are a must-have for any parent of small impressionable children. Especially children that are still in their formative years before they reach that magical age when they are considered capable of distinguishing between right and wrong: The Age of Reason.
Early indoctrination of children is not a new concept. Early in the Soviet Era, children of the USSR were encouraged to join Little Octobrists (октября́та) in order to become lively, active, healthy, disciplined youngsters who subordinate themselves to the collective.
At about the same time, a similar program was offered in Germany called Deutsches Jungvolk and Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth) for older male children.
The difference between then and now, obviously, is that in the present case, the children’s books are offered by a private business, and the earlier indoctrination programs were government run.
Right?
Well, almost. While not government entities themselves, there are three examples of government-related organizations that do participate in indoctrination. In May 2023, the NRCC (National Republican Congressional Committee) purchased $5,193.00 of these books in order to provide gift mementos to its donors. In November 2022, the Michael Waltz Campaign (FL – 06) bought $580.00 worth of books for supporters. In May 2022, the principal campaign committee of Matt Gaetz (FL – 01) purchased $2,555.80 worth for “supporter gifts.”
These books are pretty pricey for paperbacks, at $22.99 each, so I’m guessing small dollar donors did not receive copies.
And it’s a win-win-win scenario: authors get paid for their works, donors get rewarded for donating, and young children are told about the evils of boycotts and getting free stuff (eg., ice cream, EBT, Healthcare, and Social Security).
In this scenario, when you are in a majority, you maintain the majority by early indoctrination of future voters. If you find yourself in a shrinking minority, it is even more important to indoctrinate them.
Otherwise, you end up like the Whig Party.
Do they publish a book about the hypocrisy of subsidizing free books for donors, since one of the titles they give out is about the evils of free stuff?
1Makes me think of the state motto of Utah: “We don’t care how you bring ’em, as long as you Brigham Young.”
2I’m glad I was raised by a grandfather who taught me to question everything and not to blindly follow orders.
3Whig Party? Today’s GOP is more like the Know Nothing Party-and proud of it.
4Mike, I tossed around the idea of using the Know Nothing Party, but I admit that I really know nothing about them (other than the self-describing name).
5Well, there’s nothing to know.
6Hitler’s Mein Kampf was purchased by the state and a copy given to every newly-wed couple. It was described as “the most widely-unread book in Germany”. It was a mechanism to give money to AH, like the post office giving him a cut of all postage sales since his picture appeared on the stamps.
Same thing here: it’s a way to give money to the (alleged) authors. I suspect no children will be harmed by the books, since the people who would buy them don’t read any books themselves.
Let’s all look for these books to crop up at our local libraries, dumped there by the boxful, unopened. A few years ago I recall seeing three boxes of some Dinesh D’Souza screed donated to my local library. They could not sell them, and even when left on the “free” shelf, they were undisturbed until sent to paper recycling center.
7Would make sense that under a trumpf 47 administration, a Trumpf version of Hitler youth would be a given. Under his unified reich plan, he’d have the likes of steven miller running it to indoctrinate young cultists. See below:
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-promotes-unified-reich-video-adding-alarming-pattern-rcna153220
8Mayor Jimmy Walker said, no girl was ever corrupted by a book. He might have been wrong.
But, fer shure, no kids will be corrupted by $6K worth of books. When I took my grandchildren to buy all the books banned by the Carroll County schools, some were unavailable at any price but the remainder cost me over $300.
Anyhow, you might maybe force a kid to read one book, but not more. My younger grandson has put aside the banned books in favor of a rip-roarin’ series called Plants v. Zombies. There seem to be about as many volumes as there were/are of Nancy Drew.
This could get expensive.
.
9Anybody remember the 1958 Rogers and Hammerstein tune from the movie South Pacific, “You’ve Got to be Carefully Taught?” It seems unfortunately timely for today’s No Nothings:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPf6ITsjsgk
The No-Nothing group already existed when the Whigs split up.
They were largely a secret anti-immigrant society that engaged in violence and criminal acts, demanding secrecy from members, hence the nick name “No-Nothings.”
A significant faction of the Whig party shared these sentiments and joined with the No-Nothings to form the so-called “American Party” when the Whigs differences became irreconcilable. The anti-slavery and pro-immigrant members of the Whigs went the other way and formed a brand new “Republican Party” when the Whigs self-destructed. Of course today’s Republicans have virtually nothing in common with the new Republican party of the mid-1800s, but much in common with the No-Nothings.
For me the saddest part of this history was the decision by Millard Fillmore, who had been a decent anti-slavery, pro-union President, to accept the nomination as the American Party candidate for President in 1856 after being rejected by Republicans. He ran a pro-union campaign rather than an anti-immigrant campaign and ironically lost to pro-slavery Democrat James Buchanan, which eventually lead to the civil war. Based on his actions and successes during the short period Fillmore was a Whig President, I have always believed that Fillmore would have had a much better chance of uniting the union and avoiding the civil war by working for the gradual elimination of slavery, although that would not have endeared him to the No-Nothings. The new Radical Republicans were too impatient, however, and angered by the Fugitive Slave law that Fillmore accepted as part of the 1850 Compromise.
10I’ve been paying into my ice cream fund for decades, and I want my “free” ice cream when I retire.
11Half@5
12Here you go.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Know_Nothing
First: slipstream @6 for the win.
13B: Brainwashing the kids has always been part of the plan, like we’ve talked about before.
Armed guards and armed teachers?
That ain’t even subliminal.
That’s in-your-face “This shit is normal”
“Start packing or start dying”
Cuz a kindergartner’s impressionability is a terrible thing to waste.
Carrion, excrement, and offal nutriments for the sustinence of the hordes of MAGAoty spawn.
14I used to read to kindergarteners a couple of times a week. I drew the line at the books by Callista Gingrich. I would get to the reading room early and hide them. Naughty me.
15