They don’t let little kids play in the sandbox at school any more. Too much of a liability these days. However, I remember as a little, little kid my public school had one. As little children we learn many social skills in the sandbox. Politics is like this. Let me explain. So there are children in the sandbox. Some have been there a long time. Some have left, and others are new. They all play in the same place for different reasons.
There’s the kid who builds his sand castle. Carefully, shaping the spiraling towers until a utopian perfection is achieved. Believing in this dream world of social equality and justice. Candy for all! And a teddy in every bed! It doesn’t matter that they have taken most of the sand to build their castle away from the other children. How can they complain when the castle is so lofty in its aspirations for all? Surely the other children will want to play with their sand castle once they “understand” it’s in everyone’s best interest to do so!
There is the kid who wants to make sure all the others are playing fairly. Momma always said play fair. So he goes around the sand box asking everyone to share and share alike. When his back is turned the other kids make faces at him because he is so bossy. He tries to arbitrate disputes, but never really manages to get the others to follow his suggestions. It’s so much work that they don’t really play in the sandbox as much as the others. They tend to walk in circles around the sandbox checking on the others.
There is the kid with the G.I. Joe battle play set. He sits in the middle of the sandbox and shoots his little plastic missiles at the other kids and tries to expand his circle in the sandbox. His ultimate goal is to control the entire sandbox with his mighty army of action figures. Unfortunately when he focuses on one area of his domain the kids in the other areas bury his action figures. So when he turns his attention back his army is nowhere to be found. This just perpetuates his bombardment of the other kids. And means he has to have mom buy more action figures.
There is the girl in the corner who doesn’t talk much. However she listens to the other kids and files away important information on them. This she then writes down and buries in the sandbox for use another time. When they want to get something from one of the other kids like candy or protection they just dig up the old info. This child though is often loosing alliances due to this and has to constantly be watchful of what they do. They play all the children against each other to see what they can learn from them. Whispering that Billy has gummy bears and isn’t sharing just to see if Billy does. They never really enjoy the sand and have to guard their buried treasure.
There is the kid who likes to play with matches and set things on fire. They know it’s wrong but they do it anyway. They will grab one of the G.I. Joes from the kid in the middle and melt it to a puddle. Burying the evidence in the sandbox hoping no one finds it and links it to them. This of course the quiet kid will notice and write down for a later date. Secretly this child wants to watch the sand castle burn. They will sometimes form alliances, however live in constant fear that their little pyro problem will be dug up and exposed.
There is the poor kid who builds his sand condo with a spoon he borrowed from the kitchen. Watching the ground for a dropped quarter to go feast on a hand full of peanuts from the candy machine at the 7-11. He doesn’t care that it’s just a hand full. He is glad to have anything that he can call his own for his family. He tries to make friends with the kid who built the sand castle hoping he can get more sand from him for his condo. Which the other child gives him by taking it from the kid in the middle when is back is turned. When his sand condo is built, he is constantly trying to keep the other kids from taking or destroying his sand. Including the kid building the castle who took his sand in the first place.
Then there is the bully who comes along and smashes it down. Moving on to the next kid to torture. He doesn’t care so much about the sand and how much of it he has. He can just take it any time he wants. He’s entitled to it since he’s the strongest in the sandbox. It’s “HIS” sandbox after all. The other kids are just there to give him something to do with his time. He doesn’t care if the other kids are secretly plotting to bury him in the sand later. He can just smash them if they try.
As all these children play with the sand it gets less and less. Some of the sand is taken out of the sandbox and sent to other sandboxes. Some of the sand is new. Yet all the kids position themselves to get as much of the sand as possible. Each for their own reasons. Day after day they play in the sandbox. Day after day it gets dirtier and dirtier. These are just some of the examples of the kids in the sandbox. Yet this is what we learn from the sandbox as children. In politics, there is little difference.
Playing on the monkey bars.
Consti
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