Kid Nation hero

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I don't have cable or satellite or even rabbit ear television, so when we vacation, we tend to over-indulge. One indulgence this weekend was a repeat of a new Survivor style show involving 8-14 year olds who are dropped in a ghost town to learn how to survive together, Kid Nation. What a miserable premise, eh? A summary from Slate is here. Of course our thoughts turn to Lord of the Flies, which is a brilliant argument for the total depravity of the human soul, no matter what age. In this situation though the depravity is perhaps more evident in the producers of the show than the children, who, nevertheless, do manifest their depravity. Who is my hero of the show? I give the gold star to 8 year old Jimmy from New Hampshire. He missed his family. He was under the impression things would be more like a summer camp. He wanted to go home. He resisted tremendous pressure from the host and fellow "citizens" in a public forum and stuck to his principles. He at least has principles. I don't know what ones the producers have.


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