I have a favor to ask and hope someone can help me. I´m working on a political formation program in El Salvador to educate people about the philosophy of freedom and free market capitalism, and part of the program is intended to educate children at an early age about the basic principles and beliefs of freedom. The thing is I’m not really sure how to aproach this part of the program, and wanted to know if someone knew about books, documents or audivisual content oriented towards a really young audiece. If someone could recommend something it would be really helpful,
Well I would say the best children’s book on liberty and economics that I’ve ever seen was “The Little Red Hen.” You can get it at amazon here. My grandmother used to read that book to me, and it still holds significance today. Good luck on your program in El Salvador.
Just be careful with Robin Hood. Sometimes the message becomes “it’s okay to steal from the rich to give to the poor,” rather than “the rich extorted the poor with criminal taxation and government brutality, and Robin Hood was merely returning the property which was by right theirs.”
Don’t forget the other story: The poor, through the state, robbed the rich, then the rich left the country and all the entrepreneurship and bright minds left with them, and now, they have a lot of resources but nothing works.
I think you should tell some stories about the freedom and life , this could be good for children. And this is the an effective educational way. Good luck to you in El Salvador
What I think you should do is make the children active and not just passive participants in any sort of educational program. You should have the kids act out certain scenarios dealing with freedom. For instance, if you have a classroom of children, you can divide them into certain groups and have them act out a scenario involving trade. You can have some kids be “the government”, others “the voters”, and still others be the “businessmen.” Then you can set up a situation where they experience first hand how the state operates. But don’t forget to switch it around and make sure that the students get to play every role at least once, so they can understand everyone’s point of view. I’m sure you are creative and can come up with the scenarios, but I’ll give you one to get you started:
One group of kids play the role of needy people in society. Another group plays the role of those with wealth (give them props when you do this, like candy). A third group plays the concerned citizens who wants to give the candy to the poor, but don’t have much themselves. Finally you have people acting in the role of the state. Then ask them what is the fair way to settle this issue. Is it fair if the government takes the candy by force and gives it to the needy, or is it better if it is done voluntarily, and through the exchange of services, etc. Anyways, you get the point. Remember, active, not passive!