Published in the Western Standard, February 28, 2005, p. 16 (also available in a pdf scan).

Saving the Children
by
Pierre Lemieux

 

Kraft Foods recently announced that it will stop advertising some of its snack foods to children. Then, an American coalition of American food companies decided to start fighting for their right to advertise to children. After alcohol and tobacco, the current scare is obesity. The new wave will soon hit Canada. Children are easy to influence. Indeed, this is why they need parents to make decisions about their breakfasts and guide them into adult life. Parents, or the state? The U.S. federal government has more than 200 “Web Sites for Kids,” ranging from the Department of Health and Human Services’ “Girl Power!” to the U.S. Treasury’s “Savings Bonds for Kids.” The Environmental Protection Agency’s “Savemors” are a model recycling family whose “fireplace was made from old bricks that the family recovered from a building that was torn down” and who “burn logs made from pressed wood.” “Hi Kids!” says the National Institutes of Health’s cow mascot. “I am here to help you learn why Milk Matters...” The Social Security Administration tells children, “Social Security is your piggy bank for the future.” On its planetahead.ca website for teens, the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority promotes masturbation. This “Authority” also fights homophobia in order to be “inclusive.” Of course, they include or exclude whom they want. (I personally have nothing against masturbation, but other taxpayers may not agree.) The Ontario premier has a “Kids’ Zone” on his website, boasting about all the services rendered by the government. Dalton McGuinty is a total altruist: “One of the most important things to him as premier is helping students, teachers and schools succeed.” Strangely, given the way Health Canada has been conscripting children in its anti-smoking jihad, one does not find any anti-smoking reference in our feds’ list of several dozen “Web Sites for Kids.” But dig deeper in Health Canada’s pages, and you’ll find one that advises kids with highly sophisticated arguments such as: “This is your world. Get involved. Spread the word. Get your voice out there and make some noise.” Another Canadian federal website for children argues, “Pierre Trudeau ... told Canadians that ‘men who want very badly to head the country shouldn’t be trusted.’ But in fact,” the blurb continues, “wanting power is very important.” Good point, but read on. A page titled “Keeping Canadians Happy” explains, “Early prime ministers ... were loved and respected by most Canadians. For modern prime ministers, it is often different.” And it blames the media! It has apparently not crossed the bureaucrat authors’ minds that today’s state is hated by part of the population because it takes sides in favour of some citizens against others. The green fascists of Environment Canada cuddle the young with economically false statements and pidgin morality: “It is important to choose the least polluting way to get the job done. Remember, your actions make a difference!!! Care for the earth and it will provide for you.” The subliminal message in all those ads is that the state is nice, inoffensive, and makes everybody happy. And this is not counting all the similar state propaganda relayed by the schools, and by the “private” organizations that are subsidized by, and mouthpieces for, the state. The state is an astute manipulator of children. In 2002, children organized by UNICEF delivered a message to the United Nations’s General Assembly. They demanded health care, “free and compulsory” education, the rescue of natural resources, cancellation of debts, etc. What they asked for are policies the United Nations has been advocating all along. Guess why? For many years now, we have seen American children denouncing their parents after being brainwashed by anti-drug propaganda at school. Eleven-year-old Crystal of Searsport, Maine, turned in her marijuana-smoking parents, but later regretted it: “Crystal hides under the bed or in the closet when police are in the neighborhood” (Wall Street Journal, April 20, 1992). If children understood the world, they would realize that the state is their worst enemy, leading them straight into the Brave New World. Compared to this, commercial advertising to children is a non-problem.