From Legotown to Communist Utopia
A commentator on this blog draws our attention to this piece on the site Rethinking Schools. It is called "Why We Banned Legos." It is indeed an amazing piece of work, a perfect distillation of the romantic attachment that bourgeois educators in a prosperous society have for a communist ideal they have never experienced or seen or, apparently, read about.In the short version, the teachers allowed the children in an after-school program to build a massive and growing Legotown. As kids will do, they students tended to homestead certain pieces and structures, and then barter them. Eventually resentments over who owns what emerge, and, after some inadvertent destruction of some buildings took place, conflicts arose.
The teachers then used the occasion to teach a lesson straight from old-time communist ideology, bringing the kids around to the view that all structures must be public structures, that nothing can be owned but by groups, and that all structures will be standard sizes.
It is an engaging if very alarming read! I would be curious to know to what extent the kids absorb the "lesson" they were given, or, if their heart of hearts, they really do miss the excitement and beauty of the real Legotown.
In any case, reading this piece, you can understand how it is that Castro's resignation has unleashed mind-boggling statements about the glories of the society he created, and its "immense achievements in terms of healthcare, poverty reduction and education."
Comments (22)
Whenever I've heard folk defend Cuba's Revolution by citing stats that show their comparatively high rate of literacy, I've always smirked that "ya, to read and think what?" - as in what good is being able to read and learn in a land full of false doctrines and no freedom to fulfill dreams. The lessons coming out of that Legotown exercise is the opposite - that by nature people have an impulse toward assuring comparative advantage and gain, which can never be squelched by the imposition of supposed egalitarian structures (of course, as we know, they've maintained an elite class that didn't have to live with the lies)
Published: February 20, 2008 8:46 AM
They forgot to mention Lego police force used to arrest and imprison anyone not complying with the new rules.
Published: February 20, 2008 9:03 AM
As a former lego maniac, I am absolutely appalled.
Jane Jacobs is rolling over in her grave right now.
Published: February 20, 2008 9:59 AM
Referring to the Legotown story, what is it that Marxists don't get about subjective value theory? Do they not see that they created this fabricated world with an OBJECTIVE value system that didn't allow for mutual gains in trade because everyone was forced to value each Lego brick the same way?
This is child abuse of the highest order... lying to these kids, forcing upon them a false model of the world and the way it works and then sitting back and smiling smugly because these kids come to see the problems with the "capitalist meritocracy." These children are going to be brain-damaged, aggressive, violent adults when they grow up because the lesson they are learning right now is that if they don't have "power" it's only fair to take a little for themselves.
Smug Marxist jerk teachers... they think they're providing the children with some alternative understanding of how to peacefully coexist and all they're really doing is teaching them how to be violent like everyone else. Absolutely revolting.
Published: February 20, 2008 10:42 AM
The hypocritical teachers used their position of power to enforce their views upon the children. The lesson most commonly taught to children is that when you grow up, you can make children do what you want.
Published: February 20, 2008 10:56 AM
I would rather my child search the Internet for pornography than be turned into a Che-lover by a bimbo in a government school. I have also blocked CNN and BBC in the "Parental Controls" feature because I care about my childs future.
Published: February 20, 2008 11:54 AM
And so we see a perfect reconstruction of human history, a few thugs taking everyones property.
Published: February 20, 2008 12:01 PM
Marxism as feel-good, psycho-pop. Very subtle, and very disturbing.
Published: February 20, 2008 12:03 PM
I would simply allow children to bring blocks from home to add to the construction, the more the merrier, allocate more land area for Legotown, and start Anacapitstan.
Seriously, this sort of experiment done in schools across the nation would be more helpful and educational to children than the average economics class, forcing them to barter brick for brick in fact would probably be the best practice for the real world, and would also teach them the morals of private property. And also economists could study these "legotowns" as economic models, my Omniscient omnipotent being, these teachers are idiots. They throw away a perfect teaching tool for children, a model for economists, and a fun experience. Sounds like the US government.
Published: February 20, 2008 12:09 PM
I would simply allow children to bring blocks from home to add to the construction, the more the merrier, allocate more land area for Legotown, and start Anacapitstan.
I believe it is commonly known as "Libertopia."
Published: February 20, 2008 12:30 PM
It would be interesting to see before and after photos of Legotown. I would bet a shiny nickel, that the new Legotown, with all of its asthetic building codes, is not nearly as interesting as the old Legotown.
The rules, that the adults implemented, stated that buildings could not be greater than a certain size. This was to ensure that the less skilled lego builders did not feel bad about their contruction techniques. What a way to stifle the gifted lego builder's creativity.
No more really cool architecture, it uses too many resources. No more art, it uses too many resources.
Published: February 20, 2008 2:28 PM
"I would rather my child search the Internet for pornography than be turned into a Che-lover by a bimbo in a government school."
LOL!
Published: February 20, 2008 2:34 PM
Boy what an awesome way to teach kids ruined by a bunch of feel good Marxoid morons. They could learn economics and the art of getting along in a wide community with social pressures like jealousy, but instead all they learn is that top down authoritarianism is needed to solve the world's problems--which are of course caused by selfish individuals doing their own thing with their own stuff.
...sort of like every other day in public school.
Published: February 20, 2008 2:52 PM
Its remarkable that people are so determined to promote their views to children in such a way. It completely takes the fun out of Lego.
Some of the paragraphs almost become a self-parody:
"All structures are public structures. Everyone can use all the Lego structures. But only the builder or people who have her or his permission are allowed to change a structure.
Lego people can be saved only by a "team" of kids, not by individuals.
All structures will be standard sizes."
A classic anticlimax; what a hoot!
They could have said: Under socialism we will all be equally.... dull.
"We should all just have the same number of pieces, like 15 or 28 pieces." They don't call it central planning for nothing. Sure it's not a Chairman Mao quotation?
Published: February 21, 2008 12:27 AM
So a group hoged all the pieces, excluded everyone else under arguments like "Some-body's got to be in charge or there would be chaos," and the teachers called it Capitalism.
Wonder what that sounds like instead...
Published: February 21, 2008 1:13 AM
Ugh...why did I read that? It's horrifying.
Published: February 21, 2008 8:06 AM
"We developed a point system for Legos, then skewed the system so that it would be quite hard to get lots of points. And we established just one rule: Get as many points as possible. The person with the most points would create the rules for the rest of the game. Our intention was to create a situation in which a few children would receive unearned power from sheer good luck in choosing Lego bricks with high point values, and then would wield that power with their peers."
If that doesn't describe Communism to a tee, I don't know what does.
Published: February 21, 2008 8:13 AM
Thanks, Jeff! :-)
Paul,
it's interesting what you say - at certain points reading this article I was almost convinced it's actually a subtle trolling, like the Sokal Hoax, it's such a parody that they cannot possibly mean it seriously. I mean if someone like Eric S. Raymond would write a parody of dogmatic Socialist educators it would be very similar to this, I guess.
Does anyone know any intelligent and somewhat flexible Lefties? Because there are a few questions I'd like to ask from someone who will not take them as an offense and I've yet to find one who could answer them without a kind of a pseudoreligious rant. Basically what I would like to know why are they so fixated on the concept of power. I mean any time you read a Leftie blog for example they always use the expressions "wealth and power", "wealthy and powerful: and so on. And I just don't get it. It's not just I don't agree, I simply don't understand, can't grasp the very idea behind it. I mean let's assume they manage to do "massive transfer of wealth and power to the masses" (I mean, there is quite a transfer of money right now, but currently to the bureaucrats. Let's assume they manage to transfer it to the masses.) So Mr. Rich does not buy another yacht and Mr. Poor buys a bigger TV. What heck does it have to do with power? How does Mr. Poor become more powerful due to this? I just don't get it. It bothers me because disagreeing with ideas is one thing, but not having the slightest clue about a very popular idea is disturbing. I mean sure it comes from the Frankfurter School, the so-called critical theory, f.e. Adorno, but that wasn't exactly this, that was way more intelligent and subtle (although still wrong) idea than simply transferring a hefty sum from the bank account of Mr. Rich to Mr. Poor.
Published: February 21, 2008 4:39 PM
Hey gang!! The REAL kick is to listen to Soviet defector Yuri Maltsev's speech on his most excellent adventure to Cuban Utopia right here at Mises!
I love Yuri's great sense of humor.
He also does an extraordinary job on FDR and his commie New dirty Dealers as well.
Highly recommend BOTH to any- and everyone!
Taylor - I'm with you 100%. These selfish and ignorant products of "teachers" schools are absolutely abhorant slugs touting the state story line of lie after lie, from the industrial revolution to the "justice" of income redistributions - pathetic and criminal.
Published: February 21, 2008 5:36 PM
It sort of reminds me of the Golding classic 'Lord of the Flies' ..
The first trait to emerge from the collective consciousness of those young minds was an acquisitiveness .. barter and trade are hardwired into our very beings because our very structure from neuron to organ, depends upon such matters.
It would seem that some have heaped scorn on the solution offered by the Lady Teacher .. on some idea of capitalist/communist models of how society should be organized .. I feel this to be shortsighted.
My feeling is that the real criteria here is .. Did the solution that the Teacher offered .. Did it work?
And if it did .. who can propose a better model?
Published: February 21, 2008 10:10 PM
Any such experiment is going to be a flawed analogy to real life and going into the discrepancies would require a serious article in itself.
I think the essential flaw is that the legos in the initial, putatively 'capitalist' scenario cost nothing. The kids could take as many as they wanted without opportunity cost.
Please take the time to email the teacher your thoughts. Her address is at the bottom of the article.
Published: February 22, 2008 9:41 PM
As someone who is certified to teach elementary and secondary education, I was quite horrified to read this. But it also reminded me of why I quit teaching over 20 years ago...it wasn't considered nice to give a failing grade.
When you observe children playing, the establishment of a hierarchy is a natural result. Children will also demonstrate a variety of skills. To destroy that hierarchy and regulate those skills simply destroys those things which are natural tendencies among children.
There was once a study that demonstrated that children who are not permitted to resolve disagreements amongst themselves have a tendency to not be able to satisfactorily resolve those same issues as adults.
Those teachers truly screwed up the thinking processes of those children.
Published: February 23, 2008 6:46 AM