Vexilloid Children

By Richard Oxman

“Perhaps our societies have grown so individualistic that a collective dynamic is no longer possible.” - Hans Weingartner

That’s the director of the not-to-be-missed The Edukators speaking at http://www3.ifcfilms.com/theedukators/. The only thing I’d change is the word “perhaps.”

My five-year-old, Marcel, spends hours pouring over flag cards and maps with me. All over our homeschooling house. On the living room floor, in the kitchen…in the bathtub. He’s clearly possessed with the descendants of vexilloids.

Our remote prehistoric past gave birth to flags. At the very beginnings of people gathering together to live and hunt ensemble, large groups always rallied around an individual who would lead…make decisions of all sorts for them. A staff, rod or spear was used early on –elaborately decorated with some kind of ornament or emblem and/or bits of natural this or that*– marked the office of a leader. And that led to the direction of an attack being spurred on by silk and other fabrics.

*Made of wood, feathers and the horns, tails, hooves and skins of animals?

The proto-flags were the beginning of the end. Just so the flags of today, my pride in Marcel’s accomplishments** notwithstanding.

**He can identify –effortlessly– the national flags of almost 191 countries already, and he’s well on his way to recognizing many of the specialized ensigns which various nations have adopted. He’s a f’n Mozart of the Vexilloid Children!

Why beginning of the end? The drive for individual prosperity is unquestionably linked to one’s identification with national boundaries. And playing within such parameters today can lead to no good. To put it mildly. Very mildly.

In The Edukators we find characters f’ing with the material goods of people who are overstuffed with plenty. That’s a good start. But…if we’re going to go that route…by our lonely…the notion of collective action buried long ago…I submit that we must take other tacks too. And quickly.

For none of the consumerism could go on as is without the disgusting obeisance taught –nay, drilled beyond sanity– respecting national identity…in our school system.

Most people on the so-called Left don’t really see this. They make token gestures in the direction of school reform, but do not call the black flag of Politically Correct Education…a black flag.

People are always asking me what –specifically– they can do to improve our collective lot. And when I delineate very clear plans for undermining action…they fall apart, blow away like a poorly made flag subjected to a Category Five hurricaine.

So…let me hoist this all up from a different angle. How ’bout –for starters– we raise a red and black flag…and then burn it?

Richard Oxman, rmoxman@yahoo.com, likes to meet with small groups or individuals, Edukator candidates, in Los Gatos, California. He also trusts that those who take the time to view Weingartner’s The Edukators will sit through the images which run over the credits at the film’s end.