I was talking to my son (6y) the other day before bedtime. He wanted to know why I need to go to work (I come home after dinner, about the time he needs to go to bed, so on my workdays, 3 days a week, I only see him just before bed, and this makes him sad sometimes). I told him we have to because we have to make money (emphasis on the having to, i.e. we're forced to). He said, "yeah we do need money".
I thought this was a good time to get hims started to question why we need money, so I asked him that. He said "to buys things". "But why do we need money for that?" I asked. "Otherwise the lady at the checkout gets angry"
All I could muster at that point was "I'll talk to you about maybe other ways than needing money to get people things when you're a bit older". I was too tired and so was he, to give him a better answer. But it got me thinking.
Kids accept everything so easily as a given. I wanted him to question things. Play Socrates a bit, you know. But maybe that's not the right approach, I don't know. Obviously, I'm not against work. I'm against work for profit. But this whole "we need money" bothered me. I want him to see that alternatives are possible. But the "we need money" is all around us. They are so easily indoctrinated into the capitalist / liberal mindset.
Anyway, this was a moment of being a communist dad where I scratched my head where to begin. Thought I'd share.
Hot damn!