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THIS IS (not supposed to be) SPARTA!!!
By Marc | October 15, 2008
I have yet to see 300
But this isn’t about Frank Miller, or the movie 300. This is about Sparta, and similarities in that ancient culture I see in our own.
Spartan children were doused with wine at birth. If the baby survived, it was taken to the elders of the community to be inspected for deformation or weakness. If it was, the child was left to the elements to die.
A fit, strong child was reared by its mother until age 7. All attempts were made to rid the child of weakness and fear by removing all things nearby. At the age of 7, they were given to the state for a rigorous education and taught to be soldiers. They were given the barest of necessities for survival and made to steal, kill, and make do for the rest. Stealing food was actually encouraged, but they were severely punished if caught.
Married couples did not live together until the man finished his full-time military service, starting at age 20 until 30.
From this, you can tell Spartans were not family-centered; all was done for the state. Children were not children; they were future soldiers and baby factories.
Their society was pretty harsh, but ours is still pretty similar, although not quite to the extreme…yet.
Currently, when a baby is unwanted, he or she is either left to the elements in a dumpster by scared prom queens, aborted, or made to be someone else’s responsibility. If the aborted child survives, under current definition, he is left to die from starvation or whatever is not done to care for him. Newborns (and in Nebraska currently anyone up to age 17) are simply taken to the hospital where they can be legally abandoned.
What about the ones we feel worthy of keeping?
We are encouraged to send our children to daycare so that someone else can raise them. I know many families and single parents simply can’t afford to keep their kids at home even though they would like to. I feel for those people. But, so many parents actually look forward to not having their sons and daughters around in order to have time away from them.
In fact, the government provides tax incentives to parents who wish to use daycare. Where are the incentives for those who wish to keep the kids at home?
After daycare, they are usually sent to public school, where more and more often parents don’t have a say in what is being taught. The schools aren’t even required to fill them in. Also, with schools, activities like recess and phys-ed are gradually being eliminated to make more room for academics.
When I was a child, kindergarten was half-day. Preschool didn’t even exist. Nowadays, it almost seems like preschool is a requirement because so much is demanded of children when they “really” start school. Recently here in Lincoln, kindergarten is now an all-day affair.
Then, when school is out, the kids need to get involved in activities at nights and weekends because they don’t get enough exercise or creative moments in school. So, again, someone else gets time with our children that should be ours.
Soon, the kids are grown, graduated, and off to somewhere else besides home. Their generation will be even more separated from the importance of family, and so on down the line.
In time, Sparta was just a shell of its former glory. What was once the mightiest and most feared people were easily defeated, dwindling in numbers, and slowly falling apart. How soon do we fall?
Topics: Life and Living | 4 Comments »
October 15th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Interesting train of thought Mark. I have often compared us to the Roman Empire but never Sparta. You have opened a new line of thought. Thank you.
October 15th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Man, that was quite well said. I think I am going to have to post a link on my page back over here to make sure my 4 readers see it ;o)
October 15th, 2008 at 10:46 pm
Hey, Bald Monkey, thanks! Between your 4 and our 4 we’ll have 8! I agree, I thought Marc did a great job with this one.
October 21st, 2008 at 10:47 pm
[...] THIS IS (not supposed to be) SPARTA!!! [...]