What Kids Say Is Right in the World

It’s time to feel good again! Bean is 10 and does “longbows” right.
Dora is 13 and does “aesthetics” right.
Max is 17 and does “not much right now” right.
Wolf is 17 and does “some things” right.
Isabelle is 10 and she does “being a friend” right.
Sadie is 9 and does “everything” right.

VICE: What do adults do right?
Bean: They drive ice cream trucks.
Dora: Drugs.
Max: I can’t think of much.
Wolf: Doctors and nurses help sick people.
Bean: They manufacture BB guns and bows and arrows.
Isabelle: Dads would do anything for you, that’s what’s right. If someone hurt me, in the future, no one would know him.

Because your dad would… kill him?!
Isabelle: That’s how much my dad loves me.

How about you, Sadie? Would your dad take someone out for you?
Sadie: No. He wouldn’t even punch anyone.
Isabelle: Your dad’s not that mean to not even punch anyone if someone hurt you. Seriously, your dad wouldn’t pay them back?
Sadie: He would make them pay money. Take them to court.
Isabelle: My dad would do way more than that. They’d never make it to court.
Sadie: Then your dad would have to go to jail.
Isabelle: Yeah. He would do that for me. My mom, too. When she gets mad, she gets mad. No ifs, ands, or buts.
Max: Adults as a group are pretty horrible, but adults as individuals can be OK. As a whole, the entire human race is pretty horrible. But the adults buy me stuff, so they’re OK. Just kidding. Define “right.”

Um… groovy?
Max: The good things adults do are things that kids do. Adults have more power, and that leads to corruption, and away from simple things, like making art, making music, having fun.

So you’re saying when people are powerless, that’s when they’re right.
Yeah.

Do you really believe that?
Yeah. I feel like kids are usually less horrible than adults, and adults do bigger and bigger horrible things as they get older and more powerful.

So you would like an adult playing Minecraft and party rockin’?
Sure. Yeah, I’m all right with older people playing with toys. I feel like they’re better than most of the adults who don’t play with toys.
Dora: Adults are all right because they kind of run this whole thing. They make more humans, and humans are kind of nice. Kids can’t make a big effect on anything. Some countries are run well and keep people fed.

What do you mean by humans are nice?
We’re some of the most sentient creatures on the planet, so we’re good to keep around, because we’re always making new things. Some of it is cutting down trees and polluting the air and water, so growing technology comes with a price, but we can explore the universe.

Screwing up the forest, things like that, people bring that up all the time, but rarely do we praise the human race for the positives.
The people that are complaining, they’re using tons of resources every day. That’s what humans do. They need to burn fuel for their exploring.

Hey, Dora’s making it time to feel good as a human again!
It’s true we have been causing destruction. Let’s go someplace else!

Let’s say the human race was annihilated tomorrow like many people wish… yes, the forest will re-grow, but who will write poetry about it? Who will notice? And appreciate it beyond just surviving to have more offspring and eat and die?
Yeah, poetry. Humans contribute a lot to the world beyond the physical sensation and survival. Songs, books, and just altogether happiness. There’s a lot going on in most people.

Previously - What Kids Say About Lies