The recent revolution and resignation of Egypt's President Mubarak reminds me of a history lesson with the kids...
We were discussing the Byzantine empire which, at the time, was ruled by an Emperor named Justinian and his wife Theodora. Justinian conquered many countries around the borders of the Mediterranean and was very pleased with his ability to enlarge his kingdom. Well, he soon found that ruling such a large territory wasn't so easy, and many of these countries had their own laws for how things were to be handled. For example, if something washed up on the seashore, who did it belong to? The person who found it or the person who lived on that section of the beach?
Justinian realized that for the kingdom to be united as a whole, everyone needed to follow the same set of laws. So he and his wife Theodora (who sounds like an amazing, wise leader - even more than Justinian if you read her history), set about to establish a code of laws for the entire kingdom to follow.
Ultimately, they did manage to unite the kingdom through a code of laws which all members respected and followed. There are a couple of hilarious ones, such as: If you are trimming a tree and someone walks under it and a branch falls on them, it's your fault. But if you warn the person first and they still choose to walk under the tree and get hit by a branch, it's their fault. Funny as it is, this as well as the rest of the laws allowed for a short period of stability and peace within the Byzantine empire.
Okay, so I'm teaching this lesson to my children, and one of the related activities is to establish a code of laws for our family. I thought this would be a fun, relatively easy activity that the kids would enjoy.
So the kids started throwing out ideas, but the laid-back feeling in the room soon changed as they thought about the ramifications of some of these rules that were being discussed. Quickly, passions, strong opinions, and concerns about the proposed laws were voiced. I watched in awe as the children engaged in an honest-to-goodness debate about the way friends and toys should be dealt with. The kids presented one idea, then another, then another, about how to handle things related to various aspects of our lives. Back and forth, back and forth, I felt like I was watching a little mini-congress meet. I was so impressed with their process when they eventually reached conclusions on which everyone agreed.
More amazing than the fact they actually all agreed in the end was the fact the rules they came up with are really fair, worthwhile rules (which have since really helped them interact with each other). Being kind, as well as proper treatment of friends and property are the jist of them. I do have to throw out the most easily agreed upon rule (the Byzantines had their silly tree rule, right?) which was: If you find a shiny rock in the backyard and you clean it, you get to keep it. So keep that in mind... if you come to my house, you should know your rights if you find an awesome rock in the backyard.
Anyway, in observing the whole event, I realized that a desire for equality and fair laws is a basic human need, regardless of age. In order for a society to be fully satisfied, the laws governing it must be fair to all - both on the macro-scale of a country and the micro-scale within the walls of our own homes. By setting up an equitable set of rules in our homes, we are teaching our children the optimum way a "system" should operate, thereby giving them a solid base for belonging to or running a system in the future.
The last point that came to mind on this subject is the need for the "rulers" of the society (King, President, or Mom and Dad) to remember the idea behind the old English Magna Carta. The main premise being that the ruler of a kingdom must follow the laws he or she expects the patrons to obey. They are not allowed to ignore the laws at whim merely because they are the rulers.
For example, have you ever thought of how many times we tell our children to say "please" and ask for something nicely, when we ourselves - because we are the parent - feel the right to tell them to do something without the "please?" I am learning that there is virtually no other way to teach a child to speak courteously and say "please" than for that child to be experiencing that same treatment from me at home on a regular basis. If our children remind us of our need to say "please," (which can irritate us, be honest) we can recognize they are merely feeling the human need for fairness, and when we deliver it (give them the "please"), their faith in the set of laws is again restored. Shouldn't we, as the ruler, give them every reason to have that faith in our system?
To finish off, I want to veer back to my original subject and congratulate the Egyptian people. I really hope that the government system to follow is democratic and fair - not just for the sake of their people, but because all humans, young and old, have the right to a democratic, equitable set of laws.
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