The documentary "Anna" records Russian filmmaker Nikita Mikhalkov's experiment with his daughter Anna. Once a year, from the time she was six until she was 17, Mikhalkov sat down with Anna and asked her these questions:
What do you love the most?
What do you hate the most?
What scares you the most?
What do you want more than anything right now?
What do you expect from life?
What does the homeland mean to you?
The director records his daughter's answers to these questions every year, thus documenting her growing moral awareness and maturity.
Isn't that an interesting topic? Would you do that with your child, or children? Are there any questions you would add to this list? I might add, "Who is God and what does he want from you?" Or perhaps you would have six or seven questions you'd ask instead of these. What say you?
Would you readers like to do an "Anna" Project with our kids? I think I would.
For that matter, I'd be interested to read how you readers would answer these questions today. I'm not going to post my answers, because I don't have all afternoon to track the thread to pluck off the trolling. But you who post anonymously should have no problem answering these questions, if you'd like.
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Paul Pfaff, that's wonderful! For the record, I could definitely use some gelato too!
love the most - my family. It would be phoney if I claimed to love God more than my family - but I feel a great sense of gratitude to God for my family. hate the most: cruelty, being afraid fear the most: loss of those I love, poverty, want the most right now: oh - good physical/spiritual health for myself and my family, gelato would be nice too - especially if I could be in Rome eating it! what I expect: don't expect - bound to be disapointed. I try to embrace the adventure that is life. what does homeland mean to you: To me - it is where those I love are, I would second Brint's comments on patriotism.
"The term 'hate' makes no sense to a small child." Shelley
TR: That's sweet, but not very realistic. Little kids do hate things. Their hatreds tend to be pretty temporary and fleeting, but they do exist. I think if you asked a small child what they "hate" they might name a certain food, certain noises, or maybe something their required to do. (Like clean their room or take a bath or something)
I don't know if "homeland" would've meant much to me at five. I might guess "Arkansas" and I suppose that might be what I'd guess now. Although I think to me "homeland" is more the place you belong.
Great exercise
What do you love the most? Relationship with God
What do you hate the most? Complacency/Apathy
What scares you the most? My children's future
What do you want more than anything right now? to know God more fully
What do you expect from life? fulfillment and purpose
What does the homeland mean to you? I love America, I am thankful for the freedoms/opportunities that people will stuff themselves inside of cargo containers to experience.
The problem I have with patriotism is really a problem with blind patriotism. I'm thankful for the sacrifices of all who have kept us safe over the years. The United States has traditions of freedom and self-determination that are truly precious. The principles in the Constitution and Bill of Rights were revolutionary at the time, and are still exceptional. Folks risked all, fought and died for this country, even when it was only a few principals written down on some paper. I don't take any of this lightly.
All that said, I have no problem pointing out that the principles underpinning this country have been under attack from it's inception. Free speech, due process, checks and balances and many other freedoms we enjoy are deeply inconvenient to those in power. Recently we've seen a concerted effort to hollow out constitutional protections and to defer to corporate interests in a way that makes the reality of the modern US function more like an oligarchy than a democracy. Politicians are blatantly paid for their votes and legislation is often written by the lobbyists themselves. We don't need another Sedition Act these days because the corporate media is working in concert with the moneyed interests that own both political parties. There is a very long list of things that are threatening our freedoms and the legacy of those who sacrificed to bring them to us.
So when I think about the "homeland" (and I find that phase creepy), I see the reality behind these wonderful ideals we hold. Corrupt politicians, graft, moral decay, a willfully ignorant population, a deliberate dumbing down of policy because of the reductive nature of the pundocracy and the 24-hour news cycle. The very folks who are benefiting from the bailout are those who architected it. No one wants the truth. We're bankrupt. We're overextended. Our children and grandchildren will have a lower standard of living because of our rampant excess. Anything complex or nuanced is forced to be hidden in details, or off-book because the media meat-grinder is designed to destroy all but the most simplistic solutions in order to fit it into the frames of reference that are available.
I think many liberals and conservatives alike can buy into the above critique.
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